Knox Painter

Friends,

As many of you know Knox Painter is the son of Sydney and Colby Painter. Knox is the sweetest little boy you have ever met but he has faced extremely tough medical challenges his entire life. I am writing this as a way to help Sydney and Colby pay down some of the many medical bills they have amassed over Knox’s short life. Please read the message below and learn about Knox from his mother. Sydney and Colby would never ask for a handout but I want to ask everyone to help them with a hand up so that they can do what’s best for Knox and get him the care he needs. Over the the past 17 months of appointments /admissions, hospital stays and other treatments, Sydney and Colby have had to miss work and use up all their Paid Time Off. Colby, an elementary school teacher, and Sydney, a NICU nurse, have not left the hospital during this stay or any of the previous stays. They have amassed medical bills from his birth until now. No telling what this stay will cost. Please consider donating any amount that you can to help them during this difficult time and know that any amount is greatly appreciated.

From Sydney:

Knox was born May 19th 2021 and was admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Children’s Hospital of Georgia immediately at birth where he spent the first 13 days of his life. During this time, Knox was diagnosed with several medical complexities including low vision and low hearing. To this day they aren’t sure how Knox is able to see but they know he can.

Knox came home and was being fed through a NG tube every three hours as well as going to doctor appointments 3-5 days a week, meeting with numerous specialists. It was at this time Covid 19 was exploding and he ended up catching the virus. On August 14 at two months old, Knox was rushed to the Children’s Hospital where he was diagnosed with Covid and he had to be put on the ventilator. At the time he was the youngest child to come down with Covid at the hospital and the doctors weren’t sure how he would respond to medicine and how his lungs would heal. He ended up being in the hospital for 25 days and was able to come home on oxygen and a monitor. The feeds continued every 3 hours and the doctor’s appointments increased.

After several tests with normal results, Knox was finally diagnosed on August 5th 2022 with CHARGE Syndrome through more extensive genetic testing.

Having a better understanding what to expect, the decision was made to get Knox a G-Tube. We were expecting an in and out procedure on October 3rd, but Knox had complications with his airway during surgery and was put on the ventilator for 9 days.

Things were looking up until 5 days later Knox caught an infection and ended up going back on the ventilator where he remains today.

Knox has proved people and doctors wrong since he was born and has been thriving at home and in therapies. We plan to travel to the CHARGE clinic in Cincinnati in coming months to have doctors who are more familiar with CHARGE evaluate him so they can be sure he is receiving the best care.

Thank you!!