Noblesville family raises money for wheelchair-bound young son - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

Breathing is something we all take for granted, but when you meet someone whose every breath is labored, you realize how fortunate most of us are.

Aiden's Breath has become one Noblesville family's labor of love.

When most of us think of the life of a three-year-old, we think of laughter. For Aiden Brown, the sound is very different. It's a constant hum of machines that mean life - from the ventilator that helps him breathe to the suction machine to the diaphragm pacer and much more.

"He also has an apnea monitor for when he is asleep," explained mother Tina Brown.

"This is a percussion vest. He gets this four times a day," she explained.

At the age of 13 months, he was in an automobile accident that stretched his spinal cord and left him with limited movement below his neck and without anyone to help him.

"Maybe I didn't give birth to him. Maybe I am not the biological mother but I love him like I am," said Brown.

That is when Tina Brown and her husband Steve stepped in. They raised their four children and have served as foster parents for many more but they adopted Aiden. After all, Tina observed, If they didn't, who was going to?

"Aiden is an adorable child and he was going to go to a nursing home and that is not a choice to me," said Brown.

So the Browns adopted Aiden and everything that that entails.

"It's been two years post accident and we are getting movement back," she explained.

So they are fighting to keep the momentum going. The next step, according to Tina who also works outside the home as a nurse, would be an FES bike.

"It manipulates his legs and his hands to where they ride like a bicycle," she said.

But the bike costs $21,000 and insurance will not cover it.

"They say it is not medically necessary...I think it is," she said. "We do what we can but he needs to have that movement to be able to grow and to not have contractures."

The Browns set up Aidensbreath.org to help them raise the money needed. That will assist in the long-term goal to help him regain hand and arm function so one day he can control his own power wheelchair. The short-term goal is to get him to pre-school which he attends five days a week when his health allows. Tina or a family nurse must always be there to make sure his health issues are addressed.

"We will do whatever we have to do to get Aiden what he needs. We will go above and beyond," she explained.

That includes doing something all the machines in the world can't do: wiping the tears from his face when he is scared. That is a mother's job.

Aiden's Breath