SPOKANE, Wash. — A Spokane family is asking for help getting their son a life-changing surgery. Eight-year-old Noah Alderson has already had four heart surgeries, but he needs a fifth to hopefully to fully repair his heart. Noah’s mom Tanasha told KREM 2 that his heart is backwards in his chest, so it is pointing the wrong direction.
Tanasha said, "A full repair means that he maybe doesn't need additional surgeries for a really long time. Or it could mean that he doesn't need any more at all."
The issue the Alderson family is facing is that the surgery is all the way in Boston. Noah is unable to fly because of his condition so the family has to road trip across the country to Beantown.
Tanasha says they are stressed because they need to be on the road by August 15. She said, “If it was a kiddo that wasn’t fragile, it’s like we’ll just throw everyone in the car and pack some clothes.” Instead, they must plan for pre-ordering meds, transporting all the equipment he needs and even having power to run the machines on their way across the country.
"If my car dies or if my batteries die or alternator dies or anything like that, we're looking for an alternative power source. We do have some leads," said Tanasha. On top of all those expenses, they also have to come up with $2,500 for gas on their round-trip drive.
This trip isn’t even the first time the Alderson family has road tripped to Boston for a heart surgery. The Inland Northwest rallied behind the family in 2019. Tanasha said, “Last time we had the world behind us, it was amazing.” She continued, “It’s so hard to ask the first time and then now we are asking for a second time, but it is just bad timing for us.”
Tanasha recently went through a health scare herself. Doctors told her she had a brain tumor that needed to be removed. Tanasha said, “It just kind of left us with not as many resources as we normally might have.” So, they are asking for the Inland Northwest community’s help one more time. She said, “I would do anything for Noah. I would literally breathe for that kiddo and I would do anything for him. So yeah, just trying to rally support.”
This entire journey has given Noah a fitting nickname. He says people call him Noah the Brave because, “I’m always brave.”
The family's GoFundMe can be found here.
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