WEST PORTSMOUTH, Ohio — Imagine being new parents. You bring your baby boy home from the hospital and the first six weeks are filled with love and the typical sleepless nights. But then something goes very wrong.
“He was just kind of making a jerky motion and drooling a lot,” said Matthew Loesch about his baby boy, Eric.
Matthew and his wife, Emily Loesch, rushed Eric to the local ER.
“Something was significantly wrong and they said, ‘Hey, we need to fly him out of here,’” Matthew recalled.
Eric Loesch, now 3-years-old, is affectionately known as Little E because he’s named after his grandfather nicknamed Big E.
Little E would be diagnosed with epilepsy due to abnormal development of the brain.
“He was having over 120 seizures a week,” Emily described.
Eric would end up needing two brain surgeries, starting when he was just 3-months-old, to control his seizures. His most recent surgery would permanently change him.
“Probably the easiest comparison is somebody who's had a major stroke,” Matthew explained.
The February surgery was to disconnect the right side of his brain, which affects the left side of Eric’s body. He can’t really use his left hand, it affects his vision, and he’s learning to walk again.
“It's hard watching your son go from a very active 3-and-a-half-year-old running, jumping, riding his bicycle to not be able to even swallow food after surgery or take a drink of water. He had to relearn how to do all that,” Emily said.
But the family felt they had no other choice but to get the surgery because the seizures could kill him.
“I was worried that he would go into a seizure during the night and we wouldn't know and cannot wake up in the morning,” Emily said. “That's why someone was awake with him 24/7.”
Little E’s last surgery was Feb. 2, 2021. After six weeks, he was finally allowed to leave Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus and come home to West Portsmouth, which is about two hours south.
This would end up being a homecoming the family will never forget.
Fire trucks escorted them into West Portsmouth. This little fighter was made to feel like a celebrity. The whole town, hundreds and hundreds of people, lined the streets with signs in yards and churches and businesses. All the local students showed up, including Eric’s preschool class and his best friends.
“Just seeing all the kids lined up and cheering for him,” Emily said as she began to tear up.
It’s clear what that meant to Emily to have a community show up cheering on a little boy with a big fight.
Little E is a testament that you can get through any battle with support and love.
“I thank the doctors all the time because I really believe they saved his life twice,” Emily said.
Eric has remained mostly seizure-free since his surgery and his parents said he continues to improve.