We are the Freck Family and we’re kind of a circus. We are an army of eight and while loud, we are joyful. We tell jokes, do impressions and rely on our wacky senses of humor and our love for pop culture to balance the seriousness of life that surrounds our every day.

Tobey, our oldest son, is a tender soul who requires our constant care and attention. Our precious, 11- year-old son has the mind of an 18-month-old trapped inside an older child’s severely disabled body. He has spent his entire life bravely fighting against impossible odds. His medical issues have slowly robbed him of his childhood as his diseases have stolen so much life from him. Tobey has been diagnosed him with countless diseases and disorders such as: Mitochondrial Disease, Eosinophilic Esophagitis, Seizure Disorder, Quadripariesis and severe developmental disabilities.

As Tobey gets older, he progressively loses more muscle function and these losses continue to translate into losses in his quality of life. He has lost the ability to speak, eat food by mouth, and use the toilet and many other activities. He is now losing the ability to walk distances on good days or any distance on the bad. We just want our little man to be happy and safe while he continues to work through increasing loss. Insurance will not pay for in-home supervision that he so desperately needs as he frequently injures himself. Insurance has also refused to pay for a safe and enclosed hospital bed so that he can get extra tube feedings at night since he struggles to keep up his calories and hydration.