Fishing for Tucker The Story of Tucker Townsend Tucker Townsend, son of Christopher and Leigh Townsend is a 5-year-old boy with Mitochondrial Disorder. He was born at 27 weeks gestation, weighing just 1 pound and 11 ounces. Tucker spent over 8 months in the NICU at Woman's Hospital, and his parents took him home with a tracheotomy tube and ventilator. He had home nursing for 12 hours a day until he was 3 years old. Tucker said good-bye to the ventilator at age 3 and 6 months later got his trach out. Tucker also has a feeding tube for nutrition as he eats less than 1% of his food by mouth.
Tucker's development has soared since his trach came out, He has gone from saying only one or two words to now saying 3-and 4-word sentences. This summer he attended a special needs preschool 5 days a week, and he participated in 3 speech therapy sessions per week, one swimming Physical Therapy session per week, one gymnastics Physical Therapy session per week, and two Occupational Therapy sessions per week to help with feeding. Tucker has many health problems that cannot be explained by his prematurity, such as developmental delay, autistic characteristics, GI issues, and microcephaly (small head). These issues led his parents to seek out mitochondrial testing, which led to a diagnosis of a Mitochondrial Depletion Syndrome in July 2010. This means that at a basic cellular level, Tucker's body does not work the way it is supposed to, and his cells do not have enough energy to perform many functions. Tucker's Mito has manifested in his neurological symptoms, but there is a chance that it could affect his heart, liver, kidneys, or other systems in the future. Even though Tucker appears healthy and energetic to many, Mitochondrial Disorder is considered life-threatening Tucker recently began full-day preschool at Lake Elementary in a special needs classroom, and so far he loves it. Tucker loves trucks and trains, as well as Mickey Mouse and playing outside, especially with his Daddy. Tucker loves life and brings joy to everyone he meets. FEBRUARY 4, 2012 Any public waterways Hosted by: Ascension Area Anglers Bass Club Click here for Entry Form