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Mom with kids with medical needs keeps extended family together, too

Austin American-Statesman - 12/30/2019

For years, Nicole Overton and her husband had been shuttling their children to and from doctors' and surgery appointments as they sought answers for medical conditions that had wreaked havoc on their little bodies.

Sons Mayken, 15, and Kafry, 5, have Von Willebrand's disease which prevents their blood from clotting properly. Son Saben, 3, has Chiari malformation that squeezes a part of his brain, although surgery has helped addressed it. Kafry has a less severe case of birth defect.

The Overtons are part of the Statesman Season for Caring program, which helps hundreds of families served by local nonprofit organizations. The Overtons were nominated by Any Baby Can.

With her children on treatment plans, Overton, 34, thought the worst for her family was over the summer of 2018.

"It was like a big sigh of relief," Overton said.

But, a few months later in October her younger brother was killed in a car crash. He was walking away from a gas station in Bastrop when a car hit him.

The sudden death destroyed her parents, who at the time had been recently diagnosed with cancer, and they turned to Overton for support. Overton has always been the glue that held her parents and siblings together.

Although she and her husband had amassed thousands of dollars in medical debt and student debt, Overton wanted to help her grieving parents by paying for her brother's funeral. They maxed out credit cards and used whatever money they had set aside.

"My mom wanted it to be really nice. She kept telling me there's no wedding, there's no baby showers, there's no more birthday parties (for her son)," Overton said, fighting back tears. "As a mom, that hurt."

With all that the family has struggled with over the years, Overton's husband Brandon says the couple copes by allowing themselves to break down every six weeks or so, usually as they're folding laundry away from their children.

But Brandon Overton said he can't help but feel proud of his family for enduring through the difficulties. He, in recent years, taught himself to code, so that he can better support his family. Nicole Overton does not work because most of her time spent is spent caring for a 6-month-old baby, who has not yet been diagnosed with health problems, and maintaining appointments for the older boys which includes weekly therapy sessions for Saben.

"What gets us through the day is knowing this won't last forever," Brandon Overton said.

The Overtons need help with past medical debt a sectional couch, protective baseball gear for son Mayken; equine therapy for Saben, YMCA activities for Kafry and diapers for Greeley, as well as respite care and gift cards for food, restaurants and clothing.

For more information about the Overton family, contact Any Baby Can, 512-454-3743, anybabycan.org.

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