Matthew Mullen is a 4-year-old boy from New Braunfels, Texas who loves wrestling with his big brother! Matthew was born at 32 weeks and had a very low chance of surviving at birth. He was airlifted from New Braunfels to Children’s Hospital of San Antonio, where he had surgery and remained in the NICU for 5 months. After several scares in the NICU, Matthew came home with a trach and g-tube.
Today, Matthew loves watching Elmo, flipping through books, and playing with numbers and letters. Though the trach prevents him from swimming or going to the river, his mom still gets to enjoy watching him play and laugh. She is amazed by his mobility; he climbs everything and is starting to run!
Matthew eats 100% through his g-tube, and is pretty susceptible to getting sick. He has had several more surgeries since coming home from the NICU, and needs help managing secretions. He requires constant care and monitoring, with lots of procedures and treatments that are part of his routine. Even though he has more daily challenges than other kids his age, Matthew still finds joy in the silliest things that make 4-year-olds smile.
Matthew’s mom says, "I’m beyond grateful to Apple HMS and all the members of Matthew’s care team. He definitely makes everyone work hard, so we are so appreciative of everyone’s dedication to Matthew!”
