The family of a 4-year-old has found new hope for their ailing son, thanks to a couple generous business owners who heard about their plight.
Born with multiple heart defects, Noah Alderson’s family had been told by local doctors there was nothing they could do—but surgeons at Boston Children’s Hospital believe they can save his life with a state-of-the-art procedure. However, transporting the boy cross-country, with all the medical equipment needed for his survival seemed impossible—until a company called Outdoorsy opened its heart and wallet.
Noah has already undergone two surgeries on his heart in Spokane, Washington and depends on medical equipment to keep him alive. For starters, there’s the oxygen tank, the nebulizer, the trach, the ventilator, and the feeding tube.
In layman’s terms, it’s a lot. It can be challenging enough to travel with a healthy kid, so consider what it takes to leave the house with Noah and his machines — not to mention his three other siblings.
Flying or driving a car were not options. The family said an RV was their only hope.
In an attempt to raise the money for a cross-country RV trip, the Aldersons set up a GoFundMe page with the goal of finding someone willing to let them borrow or rent an RV, and also raise $10,000 to cover the cost of the journey. They did raise $5,600, but what happened next was more than the family could have dreamed for.
A good Samaritan shared the link on the Outdoorsy RV Owners page on Facebook, with the caption “Delete is not allowed”. The group, which has 6,500 members, quickly rallied around the cause. Sebastian Bularz, of Seattle RV Adventures, went out and purchased a brand new Class C RV for its fleet, specifically earmarked for the family.
But, the real blessing came from the CEO of Outdoorsy, an Austin-based start up that operates as ‘The Airbnb of RVs’. He promised the Alderson family that the company will cover the cost of the RV rental rate, plus mileage costs, the cost of campgrounds, gas and insurance—plus, a hotel room close to Boston Children’s Hospital for the duration of the family’s stay in Boston (which could be up to a few weeks).
“We’ll also ensure that a backup generator is provided so this family never has to worry about an electricity outage along the way,” Outdoorsy CEO Jeff Cavins tells Good News Network.
Enthusiastic coworkers at Outdoorsy are even helping to create a fun 12 day itinerary so the family can enjoy their road trip.
“The minute we read the news about Noah and learned about the Alderson family’s special need for an RV to transport him to Boston, our team knew we had to help take this worry off their plate,” says Cavins. “Outdoorsy is built upon the foundational belief that family and our time spent together is of upmost importance. We are proud to be a small piece in Noah’s bigger life story and to help fuel his love for ‘big cars’.”
Noah’s family is incredibly grateful for the generosity of the community of RV owners and renters.
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“This offer is so generous and the team at Outdoorsy all have amazing hearts to have given us this once in a lifetime opportunity to make memories and spend time together,” said Noah’s mother Tanasha Alderson. “Especially because time with our son Noah has always been an unknown as far as how much time we get with our little boy, as his heart and lungs are so complex.
“Boston Children’s feels so confident they can help him. The question of how do we get him there has been on my mind for many sleepless nights. God has heard our prayers – even the silent ones we never mentioned.”
Noah’s journey will start August 1, with his surgery currently scheduled for August 19, 2019. You can follow his journey at Noah the Brave on Facebook.