Milford Toddler Fighting For His Life, 'Angels' Offer Help

MILFORD, CT — The Milford community and beyond is coming to the assistance of a local family whose toddler is in a fight for his life. Mason Scrivines, 3, has battled since birth with TracheoBronchoMalacia and he has been in and out of hospitals since his birth.

The Milford Mirror reports that Mason spent the first two years on a ventilator before having surgery to reconstruct his airway nearly a year ago. Mason miraculously improved and was able to go home and he was able to laugh and play like any other toddler, the Milford Mirror reports.

But in December, just prior to Mason planning to undergo more surgery he had a devastating setback, according to a GoFundMe page.

"Mason endured a devastating setback 3 weeks ago when he suffered cardiac arrest just 2 days before he was set to be back in Boston to begin working on his upper airway. His brain endured severe, tragic injury to the Basal Ganglia and the hypothalmus. He has lost all his abilities, aside from breathing and expressing pain."

"His Boston surgeon has decided he would like to give Masons brain and body a 3-6 month break before beginning the long major reconstruction of his upper airway. He was going to transfer to Boston however at 48 hours he began having seizures and Neurostorming. His movements are uncontrollable and often painful.

"Our plan is to continue to stabilize him, then transition home. We want to keep him as comfortable as possible while we begin intensive home therapies and outpatient therapies in hopes that one day he may regain his ability to move, and recognize us, or at least smile. Our whole world has turned upside down.

"Our hearts are broken. We miss his smile, him running around and climbing on everything. We could really use as much support as possible right now. His transition home means a lot of new equipment, and a new car seat suited to his needs as he has no head control or any control of his body.

"The car seat we are looking to purchase is on his Amazon Wish list, the Maxi-Cosi Pria 85 Max Convertible Car seat. This seat provides the head and side support needed and grows with him. Charlie will also need to miss time from work as we transition home and begin intensive pt and ot therapy. We appreciate Mason's faithful angels and all the support through his amazing journey," the GoFundMe page states.

The Mirror says Mason is currently at Yale-New Haven Hospital and the family is looking for a pediatric rehabilitation facility near home as Mason recuperates.

A total of $3,000 has been raised thus far. You can visit the GoFundMe page here. (GoFundMe is a Patch partner.)

>>>Read the full Milford Mirror story here.

Here is the original full post concerning Mason via GoFundMe:

Mason is 3 years old and has battled since birth with TracheoBronchoMalacia which caused 100 percent collapse of his airway resulting in spending most his first 2 years in the ICU and on a ventilator till he had a 13 hour airway reconstruction at Boston Children's Hospital where he successfully came off the ventilator.

About 10-20% of patients require anterior (front) trachea surgery to prevent any collapse 6 months post op. Over the past month Mason's trachea has begun collapsing again and on 9/14 his surgeon discovered the front of his trachea is fully collapsing causing him to stop breathing.

On Tuesday, September 18th, Masons airway became collapsed and required our normal protocol of emergency interventions however this time was unresponsive are stabilizing and required 911 services to ensure he was fully stabilized.

It became clear to his home team and Boston team his surgery is more critical than initially thought and he is number 1 on the priority and cancellation list for surgery that will hopefully happen in October.

Children from all over the world come to his surgeon at BCH for this very condition every day. It is a very stressful time for our family to travel and remain by his side. This surgery and recovery is expected to be 5-7 days long and shorter in length than his previous operation.

The past 3 years of constant medical emergencies, long hospitalizations and several operations have taken a significant toll on our family, emotionally, physically and especially financially. Dad has used all his paid vacation time for the year though has a very supportive compassionate employer and employees who help in every way they can which we are beyond blessed to have.

Mom juggles 4 clients through a virtual assistant position though is only 30-40 hours a month while caring fulltime for Mason and his sisters while Charlie works many times 7 days a week. Our family has accepted many sacrifices have had to be made in order to keep up with bills and unexpected hospital trips and doctor appointments, though it is not a life we all hoped for but make the best of it.

It has been a very long, traumatic road getting Mason the best care available. Mason is a fighter, his sisters, Mom and Dad will never stop fighting for him to one day have a functioning airway that will no longer require a trach or traumatic medical interventions to help him breathe. We appreciate all the support Team Mason has given since he was born and hope you can stand strong with us and help off set the additional costs that come with travel for surgeries and appointments, time off work, additional food costs when we can't leave the hospital, and giving his 4 sisters some pleasant fun activities to do as his brother recovers and help them process the scary times."

Image via GoFundMe