A Kentucky man's family was told when he was born he would not survive.  He's now 20 years old and celebrating living out his lifelong dream of becoming a firefighter.

MEET BRADEN WEST

CHERI WEST
CHERI WEST
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It wasn’t until two weeks before Braden was born that doctors and his family realized something was very wrong.  At birth, Braden was diagnosed with type 2 Pfeiffer syndrome.

CHERI WEST
CHERI WEST
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His life expectancy was 18 months at most. His family brought him home at one month old with the thought that he wouldn’t be here very long. He was not thriving at all so they called in hospice care to keep him comfortable until he passed. Yet that was not God’s plan at all! Braden made a miraculous turnaround for the best and started thriving and doing great with lots of help from different therapists and doctors.

Braden's mom Cheri shared some more of his story;

Braden walked with a walker until he was 5 yrs old and learned to walk on his own with lots of therapy. We also did sign language for the first 6 yrs of his life and then one day out of nowhere he said, mama…. Hasn’t hushed since.. lol. He has had over 35 surgeries to maintain his health throughout his life. He has beaten every odd that would have and should have been against him. He should have been severely mentally handicapped blind and deaf. Braden graduated high school with a 3.9 and absolutely loved school! He is a member of the civil air patrol unit here in Owensboro where he is a recruiting officer. He loves to give his testimony to anyone that will listen and wants to travel eventually doing so.

 

CHERI WEST
CHERI WEST
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CHERI WEST
CHERI WEST
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BRADEN'S BIG BREAK

Braden has had big dreams his whole life.  He has always sought to do the things he wanted in his life.  He has always wanted to be a firefighter and his dream is coming true.  He has officially joined the Moseleyville fire dept as a volunteer fireman.

CHERI WEST
CHERI WEST
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They told him that he needs to make sure he’s prepared because he may see things that he doesn’t want to see and he said I can handle it I just wanna be there if I can help at all.

We are so pumped for Braden's new journey and wish him the very best of luck.  We know he is going to be amazing.  He is such an inspiration to us all.  GREAT JOB BRADEN!

 

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