“Joshua is 11-years-old and was born at 33 weeks due to a placental abruption. He has learning disabilities as well as many health issues including asthma, anxiety, adhd, sensory processing disorder, and over 20 food allergies. Joshua has Gastroparesis. Gastroparesis is also known as delayed gastric emptying. It is a disorder that slows or stops the movement of food from the stomach to the small intestines. Gastroparesis causes him to be in a lot of pain, and there are days he barely eats anything at all. There is no cure for Gastroparesis, but there are some treatments to help the symptoms. Joshua is failure-to-thrive due to not being able to gain or even maintain weight from what little food he can eat. Most of his nutrition is an elemental amino acid-based formula through his feeding tube. Joshua must have tube feedings throughout the day as well as a continuous feed using a pump during the night. He is on multiple medications and sees several pediatric specialists.
Joshua loves the outdoors! In February 2017, we met Casey Reeves at a polar bear plunge that raises money for Children’s Miracle Network and local children with special needs. Casey is a volunteer with The Outdoor Dream Foundation (http://outdoordream.org/). Casey told us about the ODF and that it grants outdoor adventures to children who have been diagnosed with terminal or life-threatening illnesses. Outdoor Dream kids who live near the volunteers benefit from a mentoring program that provides fellowship with youth and other families in similar circumstances while learning and enjoying the traditions of hunting and fishing. It was started by Brad Jones and Coach Harold Jones in Anderson, SC. Through the Outdoor Dream Foundation, Joshua has gone on many amazing outdoor adventures that I would have never been able to take him on without their help. He has hunted gator, deer, turkey, and hog in SC. He has been on rabbit, hog, and turkey hunts in Ga. Randy and Leslie Fordham took us to Lake City, Florida for Joshua to hunt a huge Axis buck. Joshua met Billy “Catfish” Parker and Hank Parker from Hank Parker’s Flesh and Blood. Joshua loves the ODF fishing tournaments. In Feb 2018, one of the volunteers, Jimmy Burdette, called us to see if Joshua would like to have a Boykin Spaniel puppy from Upstate Gun Dogs! We met Brad Stoll the following week to pick up 8-week-old, Ranger. Joshua wanted his new puppy to have a name that represents the great outdoor adventures that he has been on with the ODF, and he has been fishing on a Ranger boat. Ranger has been with us for a month now, and he has brought so much more joy to Joshua. Ranger loves to retrieve balls and to give kisses. Joshua was able to bring Ranger to our homeschool group to help teach our “All About SC” class about our state dog. Upstate Gun Dogs and ODF, thank you so much! I have seen my son smile more than ever because of what you have done for him!”
-Joshua’s Mother, Jamie Riddle
