Holsworth, Brian

[left:f3d1c0a2a0]http://www.cherubs-cdh.org/Album/new/holsworth-brian.jpg[/left:f3d1c0a2a0]Our son Brian Holsworth was born on January 17, 1989 with CDH. He was 2 months premature and weighed 3 pounds 15 ounces. He was born at John Muir Hospital in Walnut Creek, CA and immediately taken to Children’s Hospital in Oakland for surgery. I had to stay in the hospital after the birth, but the rest of the family went to Children’s Hospital with Brian during his surgery. It was hard not to be there with him and wonder if he would survive. I was glad to hear the news that he made it but the next few days would be critical. I was able to get out of the hospital the next day and visit Brian.

It was very scary watching our baby survive, but I never had any doubts of his strength to live. He continued to improve daily and luckily was only on the ventilator for one week. He was tube fed and able to tolerate breast milk and was then transferred back to John Muir Hospital after only 2 weeks. He spent another 2 ½ weeks at John Muir to gain weight, learn to suck and maintain his health. He left the hospital after 4 ½ weeks and he weighed 4 pounds 12 ounces. This was incredible considering he was 2 months premature and had CDH. Brian as an infant was diagnosed with mild Cerebral Palsy. He went through physical therapy weekly from about 6 months. He walked at 18 months. He continued Physical therapy for most of his life with various Orthopedics in his shoes. He continues to improve and we have decreased therapy to where we work with him at home and only visit the Therapist occasionally now. Brian is very athletic and it is a lot of work to stretch with Brian and keep him loose so he can continue to play sports well. We are constantly reminding him to think about how he walks so he can continue to improve himself. This is a tough reminder with some frustration.

Brian is a great athlete and has an incredible drive to excel in sports even though he is smaller than most kids his age. He currently plays basketball, baseball and golf. He made Scholar Athlete for Little League Baseball for the past 3 years, which means you have at least a 3.0 grade during baseball season. This year he made Little League Majors as an 11year old and had a 3.6 grade point average. He also made the 11-year-old all-star team for Canyon Creek Little League. We are very proud of Brian, he has overcome a lot and has to work a lot harder than most kids in school and sports. He has a great attitude and a big heart and I believe this is what has got him this far starting from day one. Brian is the oldest of our 3 children. Brian is 11, Kyle is 9 and Alyssa is 5.


Written by Brian’s mom, Rhonda Holsworth (California)
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