Boston Children's Hospital Every Child Fund

Sometimes the brightest rainbows appear after the darkest storms. When you donate, desperate families like Jeremiah’s, find answers when they need them most at Boston Children’s Hospital.

Rachael and Jarron woke in the middle of the night to their baby’s cries. Up until now, 13-day-old Jeremiah seemed happy and healthy. But that night, his cry was different.

As a veteran emergency room nurse at another Boston hospital, Rachael is not one to panic, but she was alarmed when her firstborn stopped feeding, his breathing became labored, and he spiked a fever.

At 3 A.M., she called the pediatrician who advised them to go to their local hospital. Instead, the new parents drove from their home straight to Boston Children’s, knowing it was the only place they wanted to bring their baby. “If something was wrong, we wanted to be where the best care was,” said Rachael.

The ER team pulled Jeremiah out of the car seat to find his little heart racing. A lumbar test revealed he had bacterial meningitis, a life-threatening inflammation of the brain and spinal cord membranes. If not treated in time, the infection can be deadly or cause neurological damage or hearing loss—and all these risks were magnified because Jeremiah was so young.

He was moved to the ICU and for the next 18 days, his parents lived at his bedside, watching their son fight for his life.

The hardest part was not being able to hold him or feed him because of all the wires and monitors. Rachael appreciated the way the doctors and nurses kept them informed about every detail of Jeremiah’s progress. The small things they did, like installing a mobile above Jeremiah’s crib, gave them hope.

One day Rachael broke down in tears but was comforted by the attending doctor who told her, “With all my heart, we’re going to do everything we can to save your son’s life and make sure he has a normal life.” Rachael and Jarron believe the swift response and extraordinary care that Jeremiah got at Boston Children’s made all the difference.

The grateful parents brought their son home when he was 31 days old. Jeremiah had no neurological deficits but did experience some hearing loss. Early intervention speech programs and ongoing care at Boston Children’s Audiology Program have carefully tracked his progress.

Now 5, Jeremiah will be fitted for hearing aids this spring so he’ll be ready to start kindergarten in the fall. He’s a wonderful big brother to Elijah, 3, and Savannah, 2. He loves spotting airplanes and helicopters and is an expert on dinosaurs. He can name every dino in his favorite book.

Watch this video to see how you can give more kids like Jeremiah healthy futures. Your generous donations provide lifesaving care and fund groundbreaking discoveries at Boston Children’s Hospital. Thank you.