Indiana Family of Toddler with Brain Injury Holds Fundraiser to Benefit Similar Families

An Indiana family is holding a two-day fundraiser, which begins on October 7, to benefit families with children who have suffered traumatic brain injuries. The inspiration for the fundraiser comes from the family’s toddler Levi, who suffered a traumatic brain injury in a near-drowning last Thanksgiving.

Twins Levi and Lainey Chisholm were saved from drowning in an indoor pool last Thanksgiving. While Lainey has made a full recovery, Levi is still dealing with lingering effects from a brain injury he suffered during the ordeal, Fox 59 reported. However, he has made slow and steady progress according to his mother, Meagan Chisholm.

“We take it day by day with Levi, but every day we approach it with, we pray for a good day, and then we do our therapies… he is improving,” Chisholm told Fox 59. “Of course, it’s not at the speed that I want. But it’s just something I have to be patient with. I know he’s doing it on his time.”

Levi’s struggle inspired his family to create the non-profit Light for Levi to help other families dealing with similar circumstances. Many alternative treatments for brain injuries are not covered by insurance,  which can place significant financial stress on families caring for a child with a traumatic brain injury.

“So this is where it’s a huge blessing to other families because a lot of the equipment you might need or some of the alternative treatments that we’ve been trying — 99 percent is not covered by insurance,” Chisholm told Fox 59, “So that’s where organizations like these will really help families in finding hopefully some new ways to kind of help their child.”

“We’re just trying to find purpose in our pain, and that’s what…you know, we didn’t want our son’s story just to be one that had a dead end to it,” Chisholm told WTHR. “We wanted it to continue, I mean his legacy. We wanted to bring light back to his life.”

Light for Levi is hosting a two-day fundraising event on October 7 and October 8. The first event will take place at Wahlburgers in Carmel, Indiana. A $50 ticket will cover dinner, two drinks, and live music on the patio for attendees.

“We reached out to them when we first got into the community, because we’d heard about the tragedy…to give back,” Seth Stevenson of Wahlburgers told WTHR. 

The second event on October 8 will be a golf tournament at Eagle Creek Gold Club at 9:30 a.m. All are welcome to attend a silent auction which will take place on October 8 as well. 

 

Light for Levi plans to donate proceeds from the two-day event to the non-profit group Team Luke: Hope for Minds, which supports families of children with traumatic brain injuries.

“It’s just been really important to us to feel that through our son’s accident, that there can still be good and still be light, and we can bless others with it,” Chisholm told Fox 59.