Donate to help the Littleton Family

Please consider helping one of our neighbors in need. The Littleton Family lives in Colliers Hill in Erie, Colorado. They attend Soaring Heights Elementary and have four children: Nora (age 2), Emery (Kindergarten), Cooper (1st Grade), and Owen (3rd grade). We have had the pleasure of getting to know this family, as they are neighbors in our cul-de-sac.

Recently their world turned upside when their youngest son, Cooper, had multiple health scares. What seemed to be a common cold quickly turned to sepsis in a matter of hours. Cooper has been transported by ambulance twice in the past two months and airlifted once to Children's Hospital of Colorado for life-threatening illnesses. Cooper's mom, Taylor, was forced to leave her job to be his full-time caregiver as it's not safe at this time for him to attend school.

At the same time, his parents, Taylor and Ryan have been tirelessly working to find answers and/or a diagnosis for Cooper. Over the years, Cooper has shown concerning symptoms, some of which include: memory loss, failure to thrive, lack of growth, and a compromised immune system. Due to the urgency of this matter and the recent hospitalizations, they decided to be seen by a panel of specialists at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. This decision, made in the best interest of Cooper, eliminated years of waiting to be seen by the same number of specialists at the local hospital. The Littletons have traveled to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota twice for extensive testing in search of answers. They had to pay $5000 out of pocket just to be seen, which did not include the cost of any testing or travel expenses.

They have recently found some answers as to why Cooper is having immune system and cognitive issues. The genetic testing at the Mayo Clinic confirmed that he has two rare genetic disorders. One is called TAOK1, and the other is FOXN1. The TAOK1 is connected to intellectual disabilities, developmental delay, macrocephaly, facial dysmorphism, feeding difficulties, joint laxity, and hypotonia. There are about 50 known cases exactly like Cooper's. He also has FOXN1, which is associated with T-Cell immunodeficiency, congenital alopecia, and nail dystrophy. This can also be associated with severe combined immunodeficiency. Only 9 reported cases have been documented.

These genetic results don’t explain some of his neurological issues or other regressions. The Littletons will likely need to return to the Mayo Clinic for further evaluation. The doctors suspect that he may also have an autoimmune disorder. Fortunately, his local immunologist has been able to get Cooper approved for IgG infusions which he will begin soon.

At this time, Cooper is still unable to attend school safely, hoping to avoid exposure to illnesses. This family has been through so much emotionally. The travel and hospitalizations have separated this family repeatedly, and the medical trauma has been overwhelming. We encourage you to support this family during this difficult time, as they carry a heavy financial burden and continue to wait for answers.