Metro Atlanta family giving back to Children's Healthcare with blanket drive
ATLANTA - This time of year is typically around the peak of flu season. One metro Atlanta family knows how serious the flu can be.
Last year, FOX 5 shared the Pope family's story with viewers when their toddler wound up in the Pediatric ICU at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta for weeks after catching the virus. Now, he's back home and thriving, and as Good Day's Lindsay Tuman reports, the whole family is working to give back and help protect others.
Noah Pope is 2-years-old, and all too busy.
"Noah is now 2. He is a normal, everywhere 2-year-old - running, jumping, playing. If you saw him out and about at Publix, you would never know what he was doing a year ago, which was in the hospital, intubated, a horrible case of the flu. You would have no idea," his mom, Leyna Pope said.
In March 2024, Tuman shared Noah's story on Good Day. The family and all the hospital staff were in their 'Noah Era,' showing support with Taylor Swift-themed everything for their 16-month-old baby, who had to be hospitalized after catching the flu.
"We started at the PICU at Scottish Rite, and he developed what's kind of commonly called an Air Leak, which is where he had a hole in his lungs. He was put on ECMO, which is where a machine allows his lungs to fully collapse, and a machine externally does the work of his lungs,"

The fear of what they went through remains, especially during the flu season. In September, the CDC reported the highest number of flu-related pediatric deaths after 200 children died.
"Constant. Constant worry. Literally, as part of my nightly prayer is 'Please protect my children from respiratory viruses,'" she said.
The Popes share their story to show how dangerous the flu can be. It's been about a year since Noah's challenges, and now the family has been focused on helping the hospital that helped them so much.
"So we hosted a blanket drive, and we called it Bravery Blankets Love Noah, and we were able to donate well over 150 blankets to Arthur M Blank Hospital," Pope said.
Those blankets go in what's called Pretty Blanket Closet. Nurses give them to patients for a personal touch during a time that can be overwhelming and scary.
"It was so fun, and we did an Amazon Wishlist, so every day blankets would just show up at our house and every day we would come home and there were boxes, and boxes, and bags of blankets. And it would just amaze me at how generous people were. I was filled with so much gratitude," Noah's mom said.
It's their way of not just giving back to Children's, but also wrapping up the patients and families in comfort from a family who has been in their shoes.
"I hope they know that other families have been there and that we have experienced it, and they will get through it," she said.
You can learn more about the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta wish list here.
The Source: FOX 5's Lindsay Tuman reported this story out of Atlanta.