A fundraiser is being held on Saturday, April 22, to help a Jasper child with cerebral palsy get the intensive treatment she needs that could impact her life in an amazing way.
Ruby is the nearly 2-year-old daughter to Kelsey Martin, a single mom of seven children, four of which, including Ruby, are adopted.
“I picked up Ruby from the hospital when she was just 13 days old. She was this tiny beautiful 4 pound baby girl,” Martin said. “She was actually the first baby girl that had been in my home at the time. We were all just so ecstatic to bring her into our family.”
Martin said she quickly realized something just wasn’t right with little Ruby. She had difficulty eating and breathing. She was on oxygen around the clock. She wanted to sleep all the time. She wasn’t meeting milestones. Most of Ruby’s first year of life was spent in and out of Children’s Hospital. “We just wanted to find out answers and the best way to help this little girl,” Martin said. “At 11 months old, she still wasn’t even sitting up and that’s when it became pretty evident that we needed to do more neurological testing.”
Right after her first birthday, Ruby had a brain MRI that confirmed she has Periventricular Malacia, which is essentially just brain damage. The white matter in both sides of her brain is damaged. This led to her diagnosis of cerebral palsy.
“I’m just not the type of mom to give up,” Martin said. “I have known since she was born that she was made for such great things. I’ve was a pediatric therapist for almost seven years, so I immediately went to work researching the best of the best when it comes to therapy and treatment.”
A few months ago, Ruby was miraculously excepted into a month-long therapy intensive in Florida.
“We will be relocating for the entire month of June so she can receive therapy tailored to her specific needs to enhance her quality of life,” Martin said. “She’ll be in therapy every single day for several hours a day. People from all over the world attend this therapy clinic, and I know it’s absolutely going to be life-changing for Ruby. Right now, she is unable to walk or run like kids her age, but she has so much potential and this is just the first step.”
Greg and Lindsey Kilgore, owners and chef’s of Black Rock Bistro, have planned the Rally for Ruby Night of Creole fundraiser on Saturday, April 22nd with the help of many local businesses. It is a ticketed event with live music and signature Black Rock dishes. The event will be at Tallulah Brewing Company. Tickets are $25 each in advance and $30 that day. The reserved tickets can be paid by cashapp or Venmo by sending the funds to $rallyforruby. Food, entertainment and a list of sponsors for the event are listed on the flyers posted below this story.
“I’m so very humbled at just how many people love my baby girl and want to be apart of our journey,” Martin said. “It truly is going be a life-changing experience for her, and we will never be able to thank you all enough for your generosity and support.”
