Tuscola family shares journey as three brothers fight cystic fibrosis

BAIRD, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – Three young brothers from Tuscola face daily challenges, having been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. All three brothers have lived with this genetic disorder since birth, as both their parents carry the gene. The couple, Shane and Jordana Haught, were unaware until their eldest son was born.

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“On a newborn screening, they found that putting our oldest did have CF, and so we received that diagnosis at about three weeks old. Cystic fibrosis is a disease that it’s caused by a gene mutation, and it causes their mucus to be thicker than a normal person’s. It affects all the systems: your respiratory system, digestive, reproductive. It can cause smaller pathways to get obstructed with thick mucus. Because it is thicker, it can harbor bacteria or viruses easier, and so it can lead to more frequent infections or problems digesting food,” explained Shane.

When they were pregnant with their firstborn, they were asked if they wanted to get tested for cystic fibrosis. The pair is declining as they were told by my health professionals that it will only impact their children if both parents are carriers of the gene, but that it is rare. So, they did not feel the need, especially since no one in their families had any health issues with cystic fibrosis. Shocked after their son was born, they both had the gene.

“It’s quite common to be a carrier of certain genetic traits, but it was rare for both of us to be carriers. This was a shock for us. We were surprised because our children were born very healthy, and you wouldn’t have suspected anything was wrong. So, when we received the diagnosis, it really rocked us,” Jordana explained.

Shane explains that while it can be challenging to have three children with cystic fibrosis, thanks to support from family, friends, and medical research. Their sons will live long and healthy lives.

“They take medications that, for the longest time, only treated the symptoms. So, it would take breathing treatments to open up their airways, and then they would have percussive therapy, which the most common one is a vest that is air-operated that will vibrate and shake loose that mucus so that they can pop it out. Just in our child’s lifetime, they’ve come out with medications that actually treat the cause of the disease at the cellular level. We’re no longer only treating the symptoms; we’re actually treating the cause of the disease. It’s been absolutely game-changing for our boys,” shared Shane.

While there are good days and bad days, Shane adds one thing that is comforting is that all three boys face the same challenges. So they can support each other and have someone to whom they can relate. Praising Cooks Children in Fort Worth for their support and explaining to the boys what their diagnosis is.

Each boy was chosen to receive a Make-A-Wish from the West Texas branch in Midland. 12-year-old Hutton chose an outdoor sports court with a half Dallas Cowboys theme and half Dallas Mavericks theme. 9-year-old Hank wished for a trip to Hawaii and to stay at the Aulani Disney Resort. The youngest, 7-year-old Hayden, wished for a Florida Disney World trip. The boys presented their wishes at Hanner Chevrolet in Baird.

The Hanner family is one of the largest donors for Make-A-Wish West Texas. One of the owners, Hunter Hanner, shared that the family has been working to celebrate with the Haught family with Make-A-Wish for months. They are glad to see the boys’ wishes finally come true. Dealership employees are all pitching in money to purchase the boys a few extra surprises, like a PlayStation 5, sports gear, and more.

“We want to do our jobs well because we want to be able to give back to the community. The better we do our jobs, the more we can give back to the community. So we have a lot of staff that gets behind that. All the employees chipped in cash out of their own pockets, and they were excited, like, ‘Let’s go buy everything on their things they like to do list.’ So it was a lot of fun to just see the whole team rally around it,” said Hanner.

The Haughts say moments like this help power them through and give their boys a reason to smile. They are thankful to everyone involved in planning, donating, and celebrating.

“In a lot of ways, we do get to look at life differently now, and that it’s been a blessing, as we don’t know what tomorrow brings or what our future is going to look like. But that’s okay; we don’t need to, and that we’re still living an amazing life and getting to see them and how blessed they’ve been in their lives by the doctors, by cooks, by our families, our churches, and our teachers,” expressed Jordana.