By Ashley Walker Benjamin

Hello friends! I would love you to meet my happy, kind souled son, Mikes. He is one of the most beautiful people I know. This kid is filled with so much love, joy and has a smile that can brighten anyone's day. If you know Mikes, then all you know is pure love and happiness because that's all he gives when you connect with him. All you can do is smile when you see his smile. :)

We went to the cow Palace, there was a reptile expo at this time. Mikes just loves all types of animals. We end up getting a bearded dragon, It was my cousin but she shared him with us. This was actually a few weeks before Mikes life changing incident on February 23, 2019, where he seized for an hour and a half long, they couldn't find a vein. He went into liver and kidney failure, this was when our life changed dramatically. After this incident Mike was no longer verbal, he was not able to walk he was not able to feed himself, or use the restroom his own. It was as if he reverted back to being a complete newborn. His brain had swollen so much it completely altered his brain function. This is called encephalopathy. All of this stemmed from his underlying epilepsy known as Dravet Syndrome. Today Mike is strong, growing, thriving and progressing more than anybody could anticipate. I am so proud to be his mom and I look forward to his brain healing completely in the future.
