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CLEARFIELD — When tragedy struck a Utah family of six, a local car dealership reached out to help in a generous way.
Mike and Lindsay Dougherty welcomed their son, Mattix, to their family Oct. 21. After just 12 hours of life, Mattix needed to go to the NICU due to having issues with his blood platelets, Mike Dougherty said.
While it's normal to have between 150,000 and 400,000 blood platelets, little Mattix had about 20,000. If his blood platelet count fell too low and his blood couldn't clot, he would be at risk for brain bleeds and potential brain damage, Mike Dougherty said.
Baby Mattix soon underwent some blood platelet transfusions, which helped his count rise, but it immediately fell back down to a 20,000 range. Originally, he was diagnosed with neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia, but Mike Dougherty said it's still unclear whether that is what he had.
Mattix spent a significant amount of time in the hospital doing blood work, though he was able to spend Thanksgiving and the week of Christmas with family outside the hospital.
The tests Mattix was undergoing in order to determine his condition were coming out negative. At one point, his blood platelet count did rise to the 94,000 range — the highest it had ever been — but eventually, they learned his liver was failing.
Mattix spent about a week after Christmas in Primary Children's Hospital, but his liver disease had slowly progressed. At that point, Lindsay and Mike Dougherty decided to bring him home to live out the rest of his life with his family.
"My wife and kids came up with a bucket list for Mattix with his last 48 hours," Dougherty said. "My wife documented it with the #Mattixbucketlist on Facebook. It involved ice cream for dinner, living room movie in a blanket fort, lunch at Cafe Zupas, etc."
Mike Dougherty said it was awesome for their kids, and it gave them some time to bond with their brother before he passed away Jan. 8.
Brock Aiken, who grew up with Lindsay Dougherty, couldn't get her family out of his mind.
Aiken started a GoFundMe account* after he learned of the medical bills and funeral costs the family would face, and he approached his boss with an idea.
Aiken is a sales manager for Murdock Auto Group, and he told his boss he thought it was an opportunity for the company to give back. After his boss reached out to the corporate offices, the company agreed to match any donation given to the Dougherty family up to $20,000.
Within 24 hours, the $20,000 goal was reached.
"I really hope and pray that this has been an experience for them and they can recognize that people care for them and that this is a time in the world that we can look outside of ourselves and learn to lift other people up," Aiken said.
Mike Dougherty said it's been awesome to see the community and the Murdock Auto Group reach out to help.
"I mean, based on the GoFundMe, it's obvious that Lindsay and I have a whole lot of friends and family and supporters," Mike Dougherty said.
*KSL.com does not assure that the money deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisors and otherwise proceed at your own risk.
