It was a warm fall day in Albuquerque, New Mexico last year when 18-month-old Cosette quietly eloped out of her aunt’s home during a weekly family gathering.
“We had spent a lot of time at my sister’s house over the summer and into the fall because she has a pool,” Cosette’s mom, Leslie, told us. “We went swimming probably once or twice a week over there. This day was no different as it was a very relaxed afternoon. We were all hanging out in the dining room just talking and I kind of had this moment of panic because it got really quiet.”
Cosette was supposed to be with her big brother Aiden and her three cousins in another room of the house. Leslie felt something was off and went looking for Cosette, as she didn’t hear her voice amongst the other children playing. Quickly realizing she wasn’t in the home anymore, they ran outside to search for her. It wasn’t long before Cosette’s parents, Ben and Leslie, discovered her under the surface of the pool’s water in the backyard.
“She managed to open their back door and snuck out, which she’d never done before. The pool cover wasn’t on because we were about to go swimming,” Leslie recalls. “She must’ve jumped in the pool on her own.”
They believe Cosette was under the water for up to 15 minutes before she was found. Thankfully, Leslie’s brother-in-law is a trained fire fighter and was able to perform CPR while 911 was called. Additionally, a neighbor, who happened to be a police officer, ran over to help revive Cosette until the ambulance arrived minutes later.
Leslie Welborn, Cosette’s mother, adjusts the straps in the new Rifton Activity Chair donated by Holton’s Heroes.
Cosette spent two weeks in pediatric intensive care on a ventilator before being able to breathe on her own again. After that she spent over a month on a rehab floor of the hospital before being discharged home in mid-December.
While Cosette has made incredible strides in her recovery, she’s currently not able to communicate verbally, eat orally or sit unassisted. Her parents have left no stone unturned in their quest to give their daughter the best chance at life. Now comfortably at home, Ben and Leslie have been searching for a device to give Cosette more access to her world around her, especially since she no longer has strong head or trunk control.
“We knew from day one in the hospital, that she's always needed an activity chair, so we were so excited when Eric reached out to us and worked with us to get it,” Leslie admits. "It’s been very challenging trying to prioritize what we want to put our money towards. All her therapies that we go for, of course, aren’t covered by insurance, so we put a lot towards that.”
Thanks to our incredible donors, Holton’s Heroes was able to purchase a brand new Rifton Activity Chair for Cosette and her family. This adaptive chair costs over $4,000 but offers a large array of therapeutic benefits as Cosette grows.
“She’s able to do sensory play, she can work with all her muscles engaging her core, head and legs,” Leslie told us. “It’s just been amazing.”
Of course, it’s not always about therapy.
“Because of Holton’s Heroes we’re able to have dinner as a family around the table together and that means more than we can ever put into words,” Ben told us. “Reading through all the heroes [on the website], it warms your heart to know you’re not alone.”
We are only able to continue to help amazing kids like Cosette with your support, so please consider donating directly to our foundation today here.
“Cosette suffered an anoxic brain injury last October, so we’ve really worked hard to help her heal and the Rifton Activity chair has been a huge part of her healing, so we just can’t say thank you enough.”
Check out some of our other heroes from 2021
“Tonight, we feel the power of humanity in a bath chair. Go figure. Some people feel excited about cars and other luxuries, but here I am just wanting my boy to be bathed safely,” Joshua mom wrote to us after her son received his gift from Holton’s Heroes.