Wesley and the Braden Family Medical Emergency

On behalf of Evan and Amber, their neighbors have started this fundraiser to help the Braden family get through the scariest time of their lives and to keep their loved ones updated on Wesley's progress as he fights for his life. All donations will go directly to the Bradens for Wesley's medical care.

This is an amazing family who has done so much for our neighborhood and community. Amber and Evan are two of the kindest and most hilarious people in the world. Wesley and his twin brother Cameron are every parent's dream; sweet, thoughtful, funny (maybe even funnier than their parents), and just genuinely wonderful kids. Anyone lucky enough to be loved by any of the Bradens knows how fantastic this family is. And right now they need as much support as they've always shown us. It's every parent's worst nightmare for a medical emergency to happen to their kid. Imagine how much worse it must be hundreds of miles away from home!

On Sunday, 7/9, at the tail end of their yearly trip to Montana to visit Amber's parents, Wesley (an incredibly healthy, active 12-year old boy) fell ill very suddenly. He was brought to the local emergency room, where he was diagnosed with myocarditis and life-flighted to Kalispell, MT. While he was there, he went into cardiac arrest and had to be revived with chest compressions. He was then life-flighted again to Seattle, WA, where he was intubated and placed in a medically-induced coma. He is in critical but stable condition.

At the time of this writing, his amazing team in Seattle is trying to wean him off the paralytic medication, and he is having moments of coherence where he's able to respond to questions with his head and fingers. He will remain in the ICU but is making positive progress so far. They are still trying to identify exactly what caused Wesley's condition and how to fix it.

As you can imagine, the Bradens will be facing some hefty out of pocket medical expenses for a lengthy hospital stay, in addition to all the travel and hotels they'll have to unexpectedly pay for. At the end of the day, their sole focus should be on Wesley's progress and helping him get better. Anything we can raise to help offset any of these costs would mean the world to them, once they're able to get Wesley healthy and start dealing with logistics like finances.

We did obtain permission from Amber and Evan to start this campaign, but only with the caveat that any extra funds or funds raised beyond what they owe for Wesley's care be donated to a charity of Wesley's choice once he's home, healthy, and running around again.

Please consider helping out however you can. Not even monetarily (we all know these are some hard times and understand if you can't donate). But with kind words of encouragement, prayers, and all the healing thoughts you can send to Wesley. Love and hope are what the Bradens need most right now.

Thank you!

5th St Squad for the Braden family❤️