In December of 2021, just three weeks shy of his second birthday, little Elijah wandered away from his three older brothers while playing with them in the family’s backyard. He climbed underneath a fence and made his way to a neighbor’s pond located directly behind his home. Unbeknownst to his brothers or parents, Elijah fell into the small body of water and was unable to swim causing him to drown.

Elijah’s brother’s went into the home to check on Elijah only to discover he wasn’t there. His brothers, along with Elijah’s mom and step-father, quickly began to search the property. One of Elijah’s older brother was the first to find him in the pond and upon their step-father’s instruction immediately began to perform CPR while they made their way to the pond. Elijah’s mother Autumn called 911 and stayed on the phone until the ambulance arrived while Elijah’s step-father Justin took over CPR duties.

“As I was doing chest compressions I could see his color starting to come back,” Elijah’s step-dad told us. “I’d get water out of his lungs and turn him to the side before doing more chest compressions until help arrived.”

Once the ambulance arrived, they quickly took him to small hospital nearby where multiple nurses worked on Elijah until his heart began to beat on its own. It’s estimated that Elijah went without a heartbeat for close to 75 grueling minutes.

"The neurologist told us he was going to get worse as time came and that he was going to be blind and deaf, and just a bunch of things that any parent wouldn’t want to hear,” Elijah’s mother Autumn McLean told us. “But as time came, he started smiling, eating baby food by mouth and even turned his head to look at things. He’s gone a lot further than many of the doctors told us he would.”

Against all odds, Elijah survived the near-drowning but suffered a severe anoxic brain injury that affected every inch of his developing brain. Although he’s able to track with his eyes, he’s not able to move his limbs with purpose, verbally communicate or even sit up on his own.

Autumn applied for her son to receive a stander from his insurance but they incredulously denied it claiming his wheelchair served a similar purpose. For those that follow us and our heroes, you most likely know that a stander and wheelchair couldn’t be more different in their use and purpose.

While a wheelchair is meant for transferring an individual at home and within the community, a stander is a therapeutic tool meant to help individuals strengthen their lower and upper body muscles. Additionally, the stander allows kids like Elijah to experience being upright, improve their breathing and digestive systems, boost bone density and allow internal organs to settle in to their natural position within our bodies. All things that sitting and laying can not accomplish.

Thanks to generous donors from around the world and a wonderful $2,000 grant from the Bandai Foundation, Holton’s Heroes was able to purchase Elijah his very own Rifton stander to use at home. Elijah has been using his new stander since the moment he received it earlier this month.

“With this stander, Elijah will be able to bare his own weight and support himself while he stands,” Autumn excitedly posted on Facebook after receiving the stander. “I feel very good vibes coming this year of 2023!”

We feel those same vibes Autumn! 💚

We are only able to continue to help kids recovering from brain injuries with your personal support. Please consider making a tax-deductible gift directly to our foundation today. You can donate safely here.

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