Our son Brody Lee Hughes was born on November, 29 2016. Brody was born healthy and so loved. He loved being cuddled and sang lullabies as a baby. He still loves cuddling and tight hugs from anyone who will embrace him. Brody loves building, Mickey Mouse, and being outdoors.

When Brody was 2 years old, we had concerns with Brody’s language development. We also noticed he made limited eye contact and wasn’t responding to his name. Brody had a history of ear infections, which also concerned us. At that time, we were referred to a speech therapist and an ENT. Following the ENT visit, Brody was scheduled for ear tubes, tonsillectomy, and adenoid removal. At this point in Brody’s journey, we thought the surgery was the answer to Brody’s language delay.

Following Brody’s surgery, we saw little to no improvement with Brody’s language development. We began researching, and connecting with educators and everything came back to one diagnosis, Autism. A little over a year prior to Brody’s diagnosis, my husband and I welcomed Brody’s little brother, Graham. He was diagnosed with Down Syndrome, a Congenital Heart Defect and Leukemia. At three weeks old, he passed away. I share this, because the loss of Graham is an important part of Brody’s story. We held Brody a little tighter and time became even more precious. Brody’s diagnosis shook us. It may have been because of the way the diagnosis was delivered or because the weight on our shoulders was already heavy. However, Brody’s Autism diagnosis didn’t change who he was, it gave us the answers we needed.

Over the past two years we have navigated Brody through his struggles. We met a wonderful speech therapist who continues to work with Brody. She celebrates his growth with us and helps us navigate the obstacles. Brody has wonderful school support who has taught him to love school, be involved, and grow. He now has a one-year-old sister who he has slowly warmed up to and loves to play with. He has family and friends who love and accept exactly who he was made to be.

Although Brody is thriving, he still has mountains to climb. His speech is significantly delayed and many of the words he does have are difficult to understand. We want to give Brody every opportunity to grow and overcome his delays that create obstacles for his everyday life. We’ve recently discovered Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) and learned of its benefits in treating children with Autism. The success stories for children with Autistic tendencies are amazing. In many cases it has helped with the client’s development in communication skills, emotional skills, social skills fine and gross motor skills, and cognitive abilities. We discovered there is a facility called Sara’s Garden right here in Northwest Ohio that specializes in this treatment.

Despite the success that Sara’s Garden has had in treating clients with Autism, insurance companies do not recognize it as being therapeutic for the treatment of Autism and therefore do not cover the cost for the treatments. This is where we could really use your help. HBOT for Autism is only $100 per treatment at Sara’s Garden (as opposed to $1,500-$2,500 per treatment at a hospital). However, since the plan is for Brody to have at least 40 HBOT treatments that cost adds up quickly.

If you could assist us with the cost (or even just part of the cost) of a single $100 HBOT treatment, it would help reduce our overall expenses greatly. 100% of funds will go into an account in Brody’s name and will be used for his treatments. Any contribution made in this manner would be considered a tax-deductible donation, as Sara’s Garden is a 501(c)(3) non-profit facility. Checks can be made out to Sara’s Garden with Brody’s name on a sheet of paper accompanying the check. Please do NOT write his name directly on the check. You can also donate securely online via credit card by clicking on the DONATE NOW button below.

We are thankful for every person who can help us to allow Brody to have this opportunity for HBOT.

With Love,
The Hughes Family