Othello newborn fighting for life at Seattle Children's Hospital

OTHELLO — An Othello family’s newborn child is fighting for his life at Seattle Children’s Hospital, so friends and family are chipping in to help out.

A GoFundMe campaign was set up to help Jose Frausto, a corrections officer in Othello, his wife, Johanna, and their family with medical expenses related to the intensive care needed for their newborn son, Sebastian. As of Monday afternoon, the campaign had raised nearly $900 in a two-day span.

Sebastian was born March 23 at Othello Community Hospital with low glucose and difficulty breathing, according to an update provided by Frausto on the GoFundMe page. Sebastian was immediately flown to Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland and admitted into the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

A day after he was born, doctors at Kadlec determined Sebastian was having difficulty clotting his blood. Frausto said doctors informed the family that Sebastian had a brain hemorrhage and low platelets.

As a result, Sebastian was transferred to Seattle Children’s Hospital. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed multiple areas of his brain had large amounts of blood. Since arriving in Seattle, Frausto said Sebastian has received multiple platelet transfusions in an effort to stop the brain hemorrhage.

“Our son is the fight for his life,” Frausto wrote.

Frausto reported that doctors have been running blood tests, MRIs and cranial ultrasounds, but they remain unsure what caused the bleeding and the continual drop in Sebastian’s platelet count. As of his update last Friday, Frausto said the family finds hope in that Sebastian was stable and showing improvements.

Complicating matters for the family was the fact that their daughter, Roxy, began feeling ill last Tuesday. Frausto returned to Othello with his daughter so she may see their family doctor, and last week he reported he would remain at home until his daughter was fully recuperated.

That leaves the Frausto family separated taking care of their children. That is where family and friends have stepped in to help.

The GoFundMe page was set up for the Fraustos by Lisa Hoyt, who has known the family since 2008, when she and Frausto were both volunteer firefighters for the Airway Heights Fire Department. Hoyt joined Spokane County Fire District No. 3 in 2014 and Frausto is a corrections officer in Othello, but Hoyt felt the family needed a boost.

On the GoFundMe page, Frausto said the best way to help is for folks to keep Sebastian in their thoughts and prayers. Beyond that, he said gift cards for food and gas would be a great help since “bills don’t stop coming.”

Visit www.gofundme.com/wyx3h2bg to donate to the GoFundMe campaign and help the Fraustos with medical expenses.

Frausto could not be reached by press time Monday for an update on Sebastian’s condition.

Ryan Minnerly can be reached via email at countygvt@columbiabasinherald.com.