Jeremiah Mitchell Adjusting To Life After Meningitis

Prayer helps more than the money. Prayer to God helps to keep his spirit up. I also pray for you real world that some one will come to you and show you how pray works. For some reason God chose this little boy to touch others like he already has. I am praying for him and if some one will post if there is a fund somewhere i will also donate money to help him with his expenses.

My prayers and best wishes go out to Jeremiah and his parents and grandmother. May you all have a wonderful holiday TOGETHER this weekend, enjoy the fireworks. Jeremiah, we are all praying for you, little guy, and wish you well. I will continue to pray for you for as long as you need it. Hugs to you and your family.

Jeremiah, you are a hero and an inspiration! Keep up the hard work. God bless you and your family.

Mother of another survivor

Thank you to Lorreta who is making Jeremiah's do-rags. That is very kind of you.

Jeremiah,

Keep up the fighting spirit. God Bless you and your family!!

May God Bless this little boy.

mom of 3 wrote:

Prayer helps more than the money. Prayer to God helps to keep his spirit up. I also pray for you real world that some one will come to you and show you how pray works. For some reason God chose this little boy to touch others like he already has. I am praying for him and if some one will post if there is a fund somewhere i will also donate money to help him with his expenses.

That's just ridiculous. If praying actually worked there would be no need for money.
You are deluded.

http://whydoesgodhateamputees.com/

They are going through the shriners, which means they arent paying, yet have still been doing fund raising. There are foundations and programs that help people like this. I feel for him terribly, but I feel some of his family is taking advantage of this and just keep asking for money.

The money is supposed to be for medical care, yet he is going through the Shriners which means they are not asking the family for money. God bless him in all that he endures and shame on the family for picking pockets from this.

I am shocked, at least three fourths of you people on here are idiots.... you sit and judge only because your life is so miserable that you have nothing better to do. The money they raise, im sure goes to things the shriners dont cover. This little guy is gonna need medications probably the rest of his life. Their home will have to be altered to make it useable to him as he grows. He is going to need special clothing, toys, education materials, home aides to assist in his care, maybe even a special diet and quite possibly a home nurse to assist with his medication. I am sure with all these dr visits its hard for the parents to work full time. I very highly doubt they are sponging extra money off of this. So help if you want, if not leave others to their choices. As for me personally, if being normal in any way makes me like you idiots.. chop off my arms and legs and call me special... i would much rather be like this little boy then you. He is a true inspiration where as YOU people (the idiots) dont deserve even the time we spent reading your filth.

The thought just occured to me, the only reason you are on here with your negative comments towards this family is that you are jelous of the attention, the love and care that people show them... Well if you need attention that bad, go do your weekly visit to the jail/prison and have your daddy hold your hand and tell you how special you are to him.

I am appalled at some of the comments on this page. However people choose to support a family during the most trying times of their lives; whether it is through prayer or money, is helpful and (usually)) done with the best of intentions. I speak from personal experience... I survived meningococcal meningitis with both legs and a few fingers amputated, multiple skin grafts and permanent organ failure.

I have met Jeremiah's grandmother and regardless of whether or not you personally have faith in God, his family does. Prayers are important to the faithful- so it is not your opinion that matters- it's Jeremiah's family's.

On another note, Jeremiah does not need pity... he needs empathy. Children who survive things like this have a remarkable capacity to adjust and compensate. As far as money is concerned, yes Shriner's does cover the costs of medical care, but there are a lot of other expenses related to a catastrophic illness. Immediate family members are often unable to work, have to incur expenses for things like travel, food, hotel costs and even some of the durable medical equipment. I was an adult when I got sick and my parents and brother were all unable to work for weeks at a time... luckily my family was in a position that they were able to afford this but most families are not!

Whether you believe things can be a "blessing in disguise" or simply "profound and life changing experiences," it is often through surviving adversity that the most incredible people are formed. I would not change what happened to me for anything in the world and I hope Jeremiah grows up to realize that people like us can gain more than we lose through our illness. The opportunities available for Jeremiah to live a "normal" and fulfilling life are fortunately well within the reach of disabled people in this day and age.

Jeremiah is a beautiful child and as he grows up, I hope the community continues to support him. It is important for other children to be exposed to disabled or "differently-abled" kids who may not look the same as them. I grew up around the pediatric burn unit at Shriner's where my mother worked. I believe this had a huge impact on my ability to cope with my circumstances and move on.

It is also important for parents to know that there are several vaccines that can prevent approximately 2/3 of the cases of meningococcal meningitisin the U.S. If you click on the followinng link, you can read about the shots available: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/mening/de... . Jeremiah and I both had potentially vaccine-preventable serotypes.

I have come to learn over the years that everyone in this world has some disability. Some people's are hidden deep within them... it just so happens that Jeremiah's is in plain view. All my best to the family and the support they have been receiving from all over the country in the form of card and letters (and PRAYERS) are for now, their fuel to keep going when things seem unbearable. It either renews or cements your faith in humanity itself to see that perfect strangers care about the well being of your loved one during their struggles.

Jeremiah... keep up the awesome recovery and keep playing your video games... good OT!

XOXOXO
Abby

To all the negative, hateful people out there-get bent!
To Jeremiah & family, my prayers go out to you. Jeremiah must be one amazing kid to have survived through all this and he continues to grow and thrive and learn and adapt.
A lessor person would have given up or been full of hate and self pity.
I applaud you, young man!

Thank God there are people like you in this world Abby! I am so happy to see you mention the vaccine. My 7 & 10 year old have received the vaccine Menactra. I never would have known about it before the outbreak in Oologah. People need to realize that rather than making hateful comments that we need to support one another and show love and compassion and work toward the greater good for all of us. Donate, pray, work toward making the vaccine available and educating others about the vaccine. NONE of us ever knows when life can be turned upside down.

I do not feel sorry for Jeremiah. He doesn't feel sorry for himself, he's making the most of his life, and if he keeps that attitude, he will be just fine. My thoughts continue to be with him and his family.

I DO feel sorry for the people who feel the need to tell people that God doesn't exist. Your mere presence on this planet is proof that God exists. I can't fathom what a miserable existance it is for people who have no faith in a higher being. If you don't want to believe in "God", that's fine. But not believing in anything? Very sad.

Furthermore, declaring that people's prayers and positive thoughts are worthless and that they should be contributing money or their time...are you taking your own advice on that? Who's the REAL hypocrite?

Karl Schneider wrote:

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That's just ridiculous. If praying actually worked there would be no need for money.
You are deluded.
http://whydoesgodhateamputees.com/

You are the one who is ridiculous!
I dont believe that anyone ASKED YOU FOR ANY PRAYERS! You're a negative disillusioned old man who has nothing better to do than spout off useless, heartless comments. In case you haven't notice, this forum is about an innocent child, that did not ask to be in this situation. If he wants to believe in God and prayers help him along the path in life, so be it. Who in the h_e_l_l are you to be saying any different??

Mr Evil wrote:

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Well, I tell ya, if "normal" means being an inconsiderate scumbag troll like yourself and the "real world" ****, I want no part of it. You're not the charity police and you have no right to judge people for expressing their good wishes in their own way. Get a hobby you miserable excuse for a human being and stop wasting my air.

Whoa, excuse me? That was a bit, ok a lot out of line! I work in the medical field and have seen what this kind of thing can do to someone throughout their lives. It can make or break them. So jerk off, to call me inconsiderate scumbag because I say offer assistance is a bit over the top. I am a christian in every way. Last weekend our church stepped out into the community and we painted needed homes, cleaned up the PD station out west and we put new siding up on a house that was in dire need. We stepped up and offered assistance. We didn't pray for it to be done by GOD but we stepped up and did through GOD.
I never judged anyone about what they do or not do. I just say step up and help rather than pray for someone else to.
I expect an apology from your uncalled for remark!

what is normal wrote:

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As the mom of a child who wouldn't be considered normal, I can proudly proclaim that normal is overrated. I have a friend who has a child with Down Syndrome. He leads an amazing life, is happy, and touches the heart of all who meet him. I have another friend who is confined to a wheelchair, yet she does more in a day that I can even dream of. She is a mother to amazing children, and runs a succesful business.
The truth is, your success and happiness in life is in no way limited by how many arms, and legs you have, or what challenges you face. Often times, these things allow you to realize that really matters and then you can truly be happy.
I know Jeremiah has an amazing life ahead of him. Sure, it won't be without it's challenges, but I don't know anyone who doesn't have any challenges! He will be more than the sum of his parts... and he will always know that he was victorious, and having overcome this, he can overcome anything!

I adore children and adults with Down Syndrome, they are beautiful, loving and smart! They are not "handicapped" as some may claim. I have a good friend who is a paralized from the waste down and is raising a family members chidren because they can't themselves. She is a wonderful mother as well.
The only thing I am saying is he has a lot of challenges and challenges make you stronger if you allow it. He has come so far in such a short time frame. It makes me sad to think that he will not be able to play baseball, kick ball, football as many children his age are doing. He will be missing out on everything that he would be doing had he not gotten sick. He was an active child, playing outside, riding bikes and now he plays video games. It is so sad! It breaks my heart. I had an adult, primary care giver for his family be life flighted into the trauma unit there in Tulsa. He had been shot in the head at close range. He survived but can no longer provide for his family as he did before, they have to take care of him for the rest of his life instead.
Jeremiah is a brave soul and has a long road ahead of him. He needs prayer to stay healthy and to help him conquer this life but he needs financial assistance even more. Shriners only covers so much. If his house isn't to code for wheelchair, maybe someone close to the family should submit to Home Extreme Makeover and help this family in a way that no one else can...!!

mom of 3 wrote:

Prayer helps more than the money. Prayer to God helps to keep his spirit up. I also pray for you real world that some one will come to you and show you how pray works. For some reason God chose this little boy to touch others like he already has. I am praying for him and if some one will post if there is a fund somewhere i will also donate money to help him with his expenses.

o
i am coming...greater works than these shall they do