In Support of Gathering Grey
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On June 17, 2025, my three-year-old son, Grey, suffered a near-fatal drowning. While I was at work, he was life-flighted to Rady Children’s Hospital. I left my patients in the care of a colleague and drove 45 agonizing minutes, praying out loud every second that he was still alive and fighting to stay with us. In my heart, I knew this child and his strength. Grey is the miracle I’ve always known him to be. Grey was intubated, sedated, and cooled to protect his brain. I stood by his side as every fear of his future flooded my mind, repeating to myself: There has to be a way to heal him. I just have to find it.
Grey’s neurologist explained his MRI was “worrisome.” It showed hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy: injury to his deep gray matter (putamen and thalamus), and parts of his occipital and parietal lobes. These areas affect movement, vision, and processing. Though devastating to hear, I held onto hope—because children’s brains have remarkable ability to recover, and I refused to give up on my son.
As a Doctor of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine, I lobbied every doctor and nurse until I was allowed to perform Neuro-Acupuncture at Grey’s bedside. Each day, his EEG improved. He began breathing over the ventilator despite sedation, opened his eyes, and kicked his legs. On day 5, he was extubated. By day 8, he left the PICU. On day 24, he came home.
The same day he was discharged, I took him for his first Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) session. Since then, Grey has made incredible strides:
- He is no longer cortically blind.
- He cries loudly again, with tones I can recognize.
- His legs are soft and bendable instead of stiff.
- His body is healing from neurostorming and temperature sensitivity.
- Most importantly—his presence is coming back to us.
But this healing comes at an overwhelming financial cost. I am a single mother of three boys and their sole provider before this tragedy. I’ve already spent over $30,000 on therapies and equipment, placing everything on credit. Insurance covers almost nothing, and I’ve had to pause my career to care for Grey full-time.
What Grey needs most now is a permanent hyperbaric oxygen chamber with AC—a safer, more effective unit that costs $48,599. The soft chamber I’ve been renting is temporary, expensive, and too hot for Grey, which triggers neurostorming. A permanent chamber will give Grey his best chance to heal and continue the progress we’ve already seen.
Grey’s story is one of hope, resilience, and love. He is fighting every day to come back to his brothers, and I am fighting to give him every tool possible to heal. With your support, Grey has the chance to keep recovering—step by step, breath by breath.
Every contribution, no matter the size, helps Grey take another step toward healing. Thank you for standing with us and believing in my son. 💙
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- Created Sep 15, 2025
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Laura Patterson