The community of DeKalb County continues to rally around Baby Hudson. The infant son of Chad and Brooke Mathis was born with a life-threatening condition that requires a heart transplant. For the last month the anxious mom and dad have been camped out at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, hoping for a miracle.

“It’s been a long wait,” says Brooke Mathis. “We’re holding up the best we can.

Born on July 8, Hudson weighed 7 pounds, 4 ounces and was 20 ¼” long.

“I thought he was the sweetest thing I’d ever seen,” the proud mom remembers when she first saw her son. “He’s just a real happy baby. He’s always smiling. He’ll smile at everybody that comes around him.”

But behind the smile is a little boy in need of a new heart to continue living. His mom, a private duty nurse, and dad, Chad, a delivery worker at Lowe’s, knew about their son’s rare heart defect before he was born. It’s called congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries (CCTGA), a condition where the heart’s lower half is reversed.

“His right and left ventricle are on opposite sides. His right ventricle is pumping to his whole body. His left ventricle is pumping to his lungs where it should be the other way around. He also has a tricuspid valve. It’s deformed and it has a severe leak. That’s really what’s causing the problems.”

Friends, family, churches, and people the Mathis family doesn’t even know have jumped in to offer help.

“We’ve been overwhelmed by everybody coming together and supporting us and praying for us. We really do appreciate it. We get through the day with prayer and God. “

The weekend of October 12 a Truck and Tractor event called “Hookin’ For Hudson” is scheduled at the Alexandria Fairgrounds. Admission is $12 (5 and under free). Money raised will help provide financial assistance to the family and also medical bills while Baby Hudson stays at Vanderbilt. For more information contact Tasha at 615-663-4109.