Please Help Steven's Miracle Recovery

Goal:

 USD $50,000

Raised:

 USD $1,175

Campaign created by Monique Peralta

Campaign funds will be received by Yvette Vaught

Please Help Steven's Miracle Recovery

Steven is a hard-working, God-fearing young man whose life has been upended by a serious bout of bacterial meningitis. He nearly died but by God’s grace has emerged from ICU on the road to recovery. 

He is a beloved son, brother, nephew, grandson, uncle, and friend with dreams of becoming a pilot, something for which he’d just passed a rigorous physical months ago, in preparation of beginning flight school. Needless to say, his dream has been put on hold.

Anything you can do to help Steven regain his life and pursuit of happiness is appreciated beyond words. He faces a daunting road ahead to recovery but we know that with his faith in God, along with the love shown to him by people from all over the country, he will again be fully healthy and ready to fulfill the purpose for which he was created. On behalf of his whole family (there's quite a bit of us), Yvette, Trey, Anna, and Aaron thank you for reading his story, praying, and giving. God Bless everyone who has helped, regardless of how that help is given. 


Recent Donations
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$ 50.00 USD
20 days ago

Anonymous Giver
$ 1000.00 USD
25 days ago

From a DM commitment to Trey on 'X'

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$ 10.00 USD
1 month ago

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$ 5.00 USD
1 month ago

Stevie West
$ 100.00 USD
1 month ago

My very best wishes and prayers for a speedy recovery!

Anonymous Giver
$ 10.00 USD
1 month ago

Praying for your son's speedy recovery Tray!

Updates

Ready for the best Steven update ever.....

January 18th, 2025

Had a final MRI and blood labs done this morning (1/16). He’ll have to see several specialists when he gets back to AZ but he is now a free man! Glory to God!

Update Ready for the best Steven update ever..... Image
Everything that transpired...

January 18th, 2025

Here is a more in depth look into what happened to Steven during what started as his family Christmas vacation. This was all written by his stepdad Trey Vaught in real time as everything happened:

 

Update 1/3/25: This is by far the happiest update I’ve been blessed to give since all of this started. Steven has said roughly 10 new words or so since yesterday. The most notable is “no,” because we can now have confidence that when he tells us “yes” it’s not just because it’s the only word he can get out. The others were “look at you!” and “how are you” in response to seeing his cousin on FaceTime. He cannot converse fully but for a guy who could barely manage a single word two days ago, it’s downright miraculous to us. He is able to watch his tablet and appears to be following the show in a cognizant manner. The last bit of good news is he has progressed enough with communication and deliberate movement to afford his doctors the ability to perform a spinal tap, which will give us a better idea of the damage done. We are clear-eyed about the long recovery ahead but teary-eyed by the spectacle of our son coming back to life before our eyes faster than any of us thought, doctors included. God Bless every single person who lifts him in up in prayer. God sees you loving a neighbor you’ve never even met and He smiles upon you.

My son is a young adult. He passed a physical for flight school just a couple months ago and was preparing to start soon. Very healthy lifestyle, God-fearing, strait-laced kid. Strong as an ox. Meningitis put him out. Unable to walk or speak intelligibly. I’m just posting this to emphasize how our health can be here today and jeopardized tomorrow, no matter who you are. In any event this ICU room is my new home for the next couple days so expect more updates. The outpouring of love is overwhelming. My wife and I are eternally grateful.

Update 1/4/24: This is the last firsthand update I’ll be able to provide for a while, as my youngest and I fly back out West this evening, leaving my wife (Steven’s mother) back here to stay until his recovery.

We got the results of the spinal tap and the doctors’ suspicions were confirmed—it’s bacterial meningitis. The head doctor said we were very lucky to have gotten him in as early as we did, although it certainly did not feel early. He spent one day in bed sleeping off what we thought may be a flu bug. It was when his mother checked on him to find him unable to walk or talk that we rushed him to the ER……..WHERE HE WAS LATER RELEASED BACK HOME THE SAME NIGHT. That’s another story for another time and perhaps another venue.

For now let’s stick to the good news. Docs say there are no signs of irreversible neurological damage and that his ability to communicate and move will improve as the infection lessens over time. There is no precise timeframe but doc says the pace at which he is recovering given the infection in his body is “miraculous.” 

Our son nearly lost his life. But by the grace of God, a wonderful ICU staff and an outpouring of love unlike anything we’ve ever seen from folks like yourselves , he has a path to full recovery. Thank you to every single person who has been following our situation and offering prayerful and thoughtful support. Our family cannot thank you enough. Glory to God.

When the second ER doc (the competent one) came in to tell us Steven needed to be moved to ICU, I could see the fear and uncertainty in his face. If I could have given him truth serum I think he would have said “I’m not sure your son is going to live.” Instead he said they were gathering information and that Steven was “very, very sick,” as if to prepare us for the worst. 

At that time Steven could not form words, walk or take care of himself in any way. His eyes would open and he’d look at us but it was if he’d suffered a massive stroke and was completely lost. 

Fast forward 5 days later, his vocabulary is severely limited but he is able to communicate well enough to meet his immediate needs and has movement in his entire body. The chief doc is floored by his progress and used the word “miraculous” when referring to him this morning.

I understand that many in our position have not been so fortunate and my heart goes out to those of you in that camp. Things happen on God’s timing and I do not have the answers. All I can say is after this incident no one will ever be able to tell me there is not healing power in prayer.

Update from Wife: 1/5/25:

Doc said the current treatment protocol is working for Steven (we agree) so he doesn’t want to change anything for now, however he is meeting with an infectious disease specialist tomorrow to examine all the various lab results and determine whether changes need to be made.

Last night Steven attempted walking around the room but was leaning heavily on the walker he was using. Wife says he made another attempt this morning and was able to get around the room (albeit a small confined space) mostly under his own power. A remarkable measure of progress is such little time. 

The latest guesstimation on his hospital stay is another 10 days. If everything goes according to plan I will be renting a car for them to come back home to Phoenix at that time . Doctors recommend against flying until his ruptured ear drum is full healed, which could be several weeks or even months. 

Overall, he is night and day from when we brought him in. An important thing to remember is he could easily still be semi-comatose (or worse) right now but he’s already eating, drinking, talking, laughing, reading, etc. He cannot do any of those things to full capacity right now but the fact that he is doing them at all at this point is miraculous. Thank you all so much.

1/13/25:

Steven remembers very little preceding his ER visit. He doesn’t even remember being sent home the first night by the grossly incompetent doctor on duty, who nearly killed him by failing to recognize the seriousness of his condition.

That’s for another time, though. The docs say Steven had to have had strep for a long time for it to lead to this kind of bacterial meningitis. However, Steven says he barely had an itchy throat and it didn’t really bother him. He says it was his ear that gave him the most trouble, the same one whose eardrum burst in bed leading to his ER visit. 

He even did things around Myrtle Beach with us for 2 days prior to his ear drum rupturing. His ear was giving him problems and there was a bit of lethargy but very little to indicate strep throat. He just wanted to relieve the pressure in his ear.

Update Everything that transpired... Image

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