A Stark County boy whose family had hoped to bring him home for the first time since his birth in July has died.
Tyler Truesdale died at 7:36 p.m. Tuesday. He was 7 months old.
The effort by his parents, Jessica and Steven Truesdale, to fulfill a wish to bring their son home at least once was the subject of a column Saturday in the Akron Beacon Journal.
Since birth, Tyler had been a patient in the neonatal intensive care unit at Akron Children’s Hospital.
The baby battled a variety of medical issues including esophageal artresia/tracheosophageal fistula — a rare disorder affecting one in 3,000 to 5,000 babies. He also suffered from hypothyroidism, pulmonary hypertension, neonatal seizures, vertebrae anomaly and atrial septal defect — a hole in his heart.
He and his twin brother, Tanner, were born July 14 at 31 weeks. They weighed just over 2 and 3 pounds.
Plans are in place that were to help the family prepare their home for Tyler. The Perry Township house was in need of electrical repairs and work to correct a minor mold problem.
“We, of course, have up-to-code work that needs done, but not needed as much now that Tyler is in heaven,” Jessica Truesdale said in an email announcing her son’s death.
Tyler — who also is survived by a 7-year-old sister Dakota — amassed more than $1 million in medical bills.
Jewell Cardwell can be reached at 330-996-3567 or emailed at jcardwell@thebeaconjournal.com.
