This browser does not support the Video element.
Tiny Taylor Swift fan fights for his life
16-month-old Noah Pope ended up fighting for his life after catching the flu in early January. The community has shown their support by wearing friendship bracelets and shirts in support of Noah.
ATLANTA - One Roswell family found themselves in an unimaginable situation when their 16-month-old baby boy got the flu, and wound up needing life support days later. During one of their most challenging times, the community gathered around them in an unexpected way, through Taylor Swift.
Noah Pope's happiness is absolutely contagious.
"He is the cutest thing. We call him the golden retriever of babies. He's just a happy, easy, go with the flow kind of guy," his mom, Leyna Pope, said.
You would never know this baby boy was fighting for his life just a few weeks ago. Noah's dad, Ryan, says in the beginning of January, Noah caught the flu.
"It's kind of odd to think how did he go from having the flu, a healthy kid with no pre-existing conditions to on life support. It was in the span of a couple of days," Ryan Pope said.
Noah's parents noticed he was having trouble breathing, and they brought him to Scottish Rite, where he had to be admitted to the pediatric ICU.
"We wound up going to Egleston for him to be put on ECMO, which is basically where his lungs are outside of his body and allows the lungs to heal," his father said.
After two weeks on ECMO, it was the best day, when Noah's eyes opened.
"He's just a miracle. We watched a miracle happen, right in front of our eyes," Noah's mom said.
While the past two months have been some of the most painful and challenging for the Pope family, you could also say they've been enchanted by the community around them.
'So we've done the friendship bracelets, we've done the shirts, we've tried to have a fun, as fun as it can be, theme throughout. Kind of a Taylor Swift theme. My wife is a huge Taylor Swift fan, so it's kind of imposed upon us," he said.
"Our neighborhood hosted a bracelet making party, our school has done bracelets. It's funny I was at the groery store this past weekend and I found myself instinctually looking to see if anyone had on a Noah bracelet," Leyna Pope said.
They say they're in their Noah Era, the updates the family has posted online about Noah's journey are all Taylor Swift themed. His room is covered in Taylor Swift decorations, and, of course, there are plenty of friendship bracelets. Even the hospital staff got on board.
"This is one that his nurses actually made for him which was so sweet. So it's one of my favorites. We have bracelets we made for the staff. I walked into our school this morning and they had made Noah Era Tshirts. It's just been wonderful," she said.
Noah's not quite out of the woods yet. He still has to complete rehab at Egleston, and will have plenty of work out patient. But the support from inside and outside the hospital is showing the Popes, soon everything will be all too well.
"Knowing that people love us and care for us and are praying for us, and just as devastated but as hopeful as us has really meant the world to us," Leyna said.