Isaiah Ortiz was 6 months old when he suffered his first seizure.
Ortiz’s mom, Sandra, was holding her only son in her arms when it happened.
“He started moving oddly, and I knew something was wrong,” said Ortiz, a lifelong Hollister resident. “My mom ran from the kitchen to the living room, and knew he was having a seizure.”
Ortiz and her mom, Elizabeth, immediately drove to Hazel Hawkins Hospital, as Isaiah’s life hung in the balance—literally. Isaiah stopped breathing for 45 minutes. When he was resuscitated, Ortiz was able to breathe a sigh of relief.
But those 45 minutes felt like months to Ortiz, who was eternally grateful that her son lived.
“The doctor who took care of Isaiah during those 45 minutes told me that had I not been a mother who breast-fed her child, that he didn’t know if Isaiah would’ve made it through that long of a seizure,” said Ortiz, who is not an advocate for breast-feeding but simply relayed what the doctor told her in the moments after Isaiah was resuscitated. “He said the breast-feeding helps a kid to be strong with their immunity and brain function, and that’s part of the reason why he was able to fight all the way back.”
Ortiz, 15, suffers from a rare and life-threatening form of epilepsy called Lennox Gaustant Syndrome (LGS), along with autism. The syndrome is characterized by a set of signs, including multiple types of seizures and moderate to severe cognitive impairment.
A freshman at San Benito High, Ortiz lived out a dream when he recently met WWE superstar John Cena, his favorite sports entertainer.
The Make-A-Wish Foundation provided an all-expenses four-day paid trip for the Ortiz family to fly to Tulsa, Okla. and attend the WWE’s Dec. 1 “Monday Night Raw,” which is one of the highest-rated shows on cable television.
Prior to the trip, Sandra said the entire family was elated that Isaiah—“If you talk to him, he doesn’t understand what you’re verbalizing, but he has knowledge and retains it,” Sandra said—would be able to live out a dream in meeting Cena.
“It was a magical experience for Isaiah,” Ortiz said. “He can’t stop looking through pictures and talking about his time with his superstar hero John Cena. It (the entire experience) was beyond amazing. John Cena is an awesome person with a big heart.Make-A-Wish made the whole experience so magical for all of us.”
For Isaiah, wrestling has been a psychologist of sorts, an activity he could engage in to get away from life’s daily grinds. He has approximately 400 toy wrestlers, and rarely leaves home without one of them.
At home, Isaiah tries to imitate the moves of the WWE wrestlers, jumping off the couch while mimicking the wrestlers’ actions. Isaiah also loves all things Disney, along with the 49ers and Raiders.
Isaiah grew up watching the WWE with his dad, Gilbert, and his uncle, Celso. Sandra said she’s forever grateful that Make-A-Wish rolled out the red carpet for her family. Simply put, the Ortiz family has been on a roller coaster of emotions for the duration of Isaiah’s life.
Isaiah has had epilepsy since he was 6 months old, but only recently was diagnosed with LGS in June 2013. In a case like Isaiah’s, his seizures will never go away. Although Isaiah hasn’t had as many seizures lately, things can always take a turn for the worse.
Due to the potential of Isaiah suffering an atonic seizure—where a person loses muscle control and usually drops straight to the ground—someone from his family has to be constantly within arms’ reach of him.
“That can be difficult at times because he’s a growing teenager and he wants to be free,” Sandra said. “Atonic seizures are the dangerous ones that can cause bodily harm, injury or even death.”
Isaiah has scars on his head and mouth from previous falls; one time the family had paramedics come over because one of Isaiah’s teeth had gone through his lips after a fall. Sandra said Isaiah once went through a period of time in which he suffered 10 to 15 seizures a day, a trying test for the entire family.
But through it all, Isaiah has remained resolute, teaching his family what perseverance looks like.
“He’s a fighter, I can tell you that for sure,” Sandra said. “He’s had a grand mal (a seizure where the person loses consciousness and has violent muscle contractions) that has lasted for five minutes, and he’ll try to sit up instead of resting afterward. He’s saying, ‘This is not going to stop me.’”
And it definitely hasn’t stopped Sandra from maintaining a positive attitude amid adversity, as trying as it may be.
“One time we were in a cancer ward and we saw so many moms and dads who had to watch their kids suffer,” Sandra said. “Things could be worse. We can’t control the things that happen to us, but we can control the way we react to them.”
The trip to Oklahoma—highlighted by the “Monday Night Raw” event—was such a blessing for everyone in the family.
During Cena’s match, the larger-than-life WWE superstar came over and talked to Isaiah, and on two other occasions he threw one of his wristbands and a towel to Isaiah.
Sandra said one of the Make-A-Wish representatives told her that Cena has earned an award for being the No. 1 grantor for Make-A-Wish. Before leaving for Oklahoma, Sandra said it was an opportunity for “us to put aside all the things we’ve watched him go through and see him smile.”
“Make-A-Wish has boosted my spirits and done a lot to my heart,” Sandra said. “I can’t thank them enough for the things they’ve done. It’s so amazing how much compassion, love and thought they put in this wish.”
Despite Isaiah’s tough circumstances, the Ortiz family has remained steadfast, knowing they’ve seen a triumph of the human spirit.
“He’ll have seizures but still get up and smile,” Sandra said. “Being his mom has been a blessing. He’s such a good kid, humorous and funny. He’s trying to be himself, and shows strength. I gather a lot from that. If he can be strong, I can be strong.”
Strong indeed.
