MEDFORD, Ore. – Four-year-old Sawyer Casey was born with a complete AV canal defect, along with heart valves that never formed.
In the last six months, he and his family have taken multiple trips up to Portland, where Sawyer had three different heart surgeries, causing him to miss two months of school.
Through this tough time, his parents say their biggest motivator, is Sawyer himself, keeping a positive attitude despite everything.
“He’s a machine it’s crazy to see how happy and energetic he is, especially with everything he’s had going in his life,” said Sawyer’s Father, Cole Thomson.
“It’s amazing and great to see as a mom knowing that your kid is going through all that but he’s strong, and it keeps you strong,” said Sawyer’s Mother, Elexis Casey.
The children’s museum is one of Sawyer’s favorite places, so his parents reached out to the museum to see if they could host his birthday party there.
The museum said they don’t usually throw parties but when they heard Sawyer’s story, they couldn’t say no.
“This is a happy place for him and in celebrating his birthday this is where he wanted to be and bring all of his friends and family, and how could you say no,” said Sunny Spicer, Executive Director for the Children’s Museum of Southern Oregon.
The staff came in on their day off to throw sawyer the best birthday party imaginable.
“It’s a personal thing for me too. My oldest child went through a lot of medical challenges himself and I took a whole lot of trips to OHSU, and I thought if I could help another family, I want to be able to do that,” said Spicer.
The party was full of friends and family playing with all the fun attractions the museum has to offer, and it was easy to see that Sawyer was having the time of his life.
“Everyone can take away the positivity, knowing that my family is still going. We appreciate the support of everyone here and the staff,” said Casey.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help cover the cost of the surgeries and the long trips to the hospital.
If you want to donate to the family, you can do so here.
Disclaimer: KOBI-TV NBC5 cannot verify if any of the funds raised through this GoFundMe will be used for the purposes listed.
© 2024 KOBI-TV NBC5. All rights reserved unless otherwise stated.