I know that it has been over a year since I have updated this blog, but I have tragic news to share with you, since Brayton has been such a big part of my life.
In December 2010, he had huge scare, after a stent errouded his espogus, causing saliva, food,, mucus, etc., to leak into his lungs. Though the Doctors did not expect him to survive, he did like he always had, and proved everyone wrong. In July Brayton became sick again, and flown to San Fransisco. He was put onto life support, awaiting surgery to repair another fistula; something extrememly rare to reoccur. Finally they had no choice but to do surgery, though it was extremely risky. Thousands of people prayed, and were thankful that he made it out of surgery. He had been placed on an ECMO machine, which is a lot like the heart/lung bypass machine, in hopes of letting his extremely damaged lungs heal. Because a blood thinner is required to keep the blood from clotting in the ECMO machine, Brayton began to bleed internally, which formed a clot. After the heart wrenching realization that there was nothing left to do for Brayton, his support was withdrawn, and Brayton peacefully went to heaven on August 28th, 2011. I will share what I posted on my iCare site, as it best describes how I feel:
Brayton Lester was born on June 30, 2008 with a birth defect called Tracheoesophageal Fistula and Esophogeal Atresia. It is a defect where the esophagus is not properly connected, and the trachea & esophagus are abnormally connected. Brayton spent the first 10 months of his life in the NICU/PICU and returned for numerous hospitalizations throughout his too-short 3 year life. The Lesters endured incredible challenges as a result of traveling 5-6 hours each way to the closest hospital equipped to treat Brayton and when Brayton was home he required around the clock care. Despite these challenges, Brayton brought great joy to their lives and his absence will be felt forever.
iCare was founded because of Brayton in 2008. Without him, iCare would have not been created, therefore unable to help it's many wonderful families over the past 3 years, bringing in over $20,000. So I thank you Brayton! You helped so many people in your short lifetime~ More than most adults who live to be 100 years old. You were an angel sent to earth! I love you sweet angel. I will carry you inside my heart forever. Now fly amongst the stars!
With much sadness,
Diana Hartley
Founder of iCare
