Berk
Sometimes asking a question on Facebook leads to everything, but an actual answer. However, in one mother's case, it led to her daughter receiving multiple pieces of medically necessary—and expensive—equipment thanks to Holton's Heroes and their generous donors.
On May 22, Shelley Fincher of Round Top, Texas, posted a question in a popular group for special needs parents. She wanted to know something most special needs parents end up asking themselves at some point in their child's recovery: How do families afford the medically necessary items that insurance and state programs don't cover? It was a valid question and one that caught the attention of Holton's Heroes' founder and special needs dad, Eric Weingrad.
"I spend a lot of time scouring the internet and in various online groups searching for answers for my son's disability. When I came upon Shelley's post I instantly wanted to do something after reading about her daughter Berkeley and the injury she suffered," Eric told us. "This was obviously a family that was at the beginning of a very long road and I wanted to help."
"Berk," as she's known to her loved ones and the thousands of people that follow her online, survived a near-drowning accident while at her grandparents home over holiday break in late-December of 2017. She was found submerged and had gone without oxygen for a significant amount of time. She was flown to a nearby children's hospital where she received round-the-clock care until being released months later.
Shelley's Facebook post about her daughter's needs that caught the attention of Holton's Heroes.
Berk's mother Shelley told us that Berk initially "died twice" before being fully resuscitated. Ultimately, Berk suffered global brain damage from the anoxic injury.
Today, Berk is home with her parents, Shelly and Don, as well as her two incredible sisters, Austyn and Micah. Her parents are aggressively trying to counteract the brain damage Berk endured by building an in-home hyperbaric chamber, as well as participating in an intensive rehabilitation therapy program offered by the Texas Children's Hospital in Houston.
Thanks to our donors, Holton's Heroes was able to do more than just answer Shelley's Facebook question. We purchased both the special needs stroller and the Tumbleforms chair for Berk (pictured below).
We wish Berk and her family the best as they begin this journey of recovery.
We are Holton's Heroes, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to helping pediatric brain injury survivors get the tools they need to succeed in recovery.