Ashburn, Va., native Isaac Crawley was born at 31 weeks with an underdeveloped esophagus — a condition that required him to get a tracheotomy when he was just 4 months old. He spent his first year in hospitals, and Isaac — now 3 — has become a kind of poster child for “trach kids.” He recently won a contest to be featured on canisters of Boogie Wipes, a children’s line of scented nose wipes. His mother, Kim, says he inspires both his family and other children with his condition. Can you tell me a little bit about your son?
He was born at 31 weeks, with a condition called esophageal atresia. He could not swallow, he could not eat — his esophagus was in two different pieces. … He’s fine now, but we’re flying up to Minnesota tonight for his 20th surgery. He’s just kind of our little Superman — he keeps enduring. He’s wild, he’s high-energy, he’s a typical 3-year-old. We have a hard time knowing when he’s sick because he’s always happy.
Why did you enter Isaac in the contest?
When he’s in public he gets some strange looks with the trach and the suction machine and all the equipment that goes everywhere with him, and it’s nice to show people how normal he is. … Whenever we’re in the hospital, we have a family [whose child is facing a tracheotomy] brought in to meet Isaac and he’s happy and normal with the trach. It hasn’t stopped him in any way.
As a parent, how do you deal with Isaac’s condition?
It’s very difficult. We’ve dealt with a lot of unknowns — we certainly didn’t know anyone with esophageal atresia. It’s a lot of phone calls to insurance companies and doctors, a lot of coordination and therapy visits, but it’s worth it. We like to think we had Isaac for a reason. And it’s important to know that things could be a lot worse.
— Aubrey Whelan
