Spring Mills boy was born 3 months early. Now his ‘miracle’ family is providing hope

When Stacie Tischler awoke with cramps on New Year’s Day in 2018, she knew something was terribly wrong. Already on bedrest due to leaking amniotic fluid, Tischler headed to Geisinger Janet Weis Children’s Hospital. As the team of doctors crowded around her, she could tell from the look on their faces that her fears were confirmed. Rushed into emergency surgery, Tischler woke up learning her newborn son was in the NICU.

“I didn’t really know the intensity of it until later on,” Tischler said last week at her Spring Mills home.

Her son, Aiden Getz, was born at 28 weeks, nearly three months premature. His lungs and throat cartilage were critically underdeveloped, requiring Aiden to stay on a ventilator.

Now, four years later, Aiden has been named a 2022 Miracle Kid, part of the Children’s Miracle Network, a nonprofit organization that raises money for children’s hospitals across the country.

For 10 months, Aiden stayed at Geisinger Janet Weis Children’s Hospital with his mother by his side. Anxious to get her son home before the holidays, Tischler and her father learned everything about Aiden’s care. They turned Aiden’s room into a makeshift ICU, getting a crash course from Aiden’s doctors on how to work the home ventilator, the feeding tube and the tracheostomy.

The tracheostomy, a permanent hole in Aiden’s throat connected to a ventilator, allowed Aiden to finally move home in October 2018. But it also prevented him from making any sounds.

“One of the hardest decisions of it all was doing that,” Tischler said. “He lost his voice for the longest time.”

Despite the temporary loss of his voice, Aiden has always had a big personality. He’s adored by the NICU and PICU staff at Geisinger, always stopping in to say hi when he returns for appointments. Since the removal of his tracheostomy in 2020, Aiden embraced his freedom, spending hours playing outside or in the pool.

Claire Laubach, the coordinator for the Inpatient Hospital and Home Ventilator Program, said Aiden and his mom have become inspirations for families still struggling.

“We like to highlight our big victories, the stories of families and kids that are still in the thick of it,” Laubach said. “Aiden can serve as the kind of light at the end of the tunnel for those who are in it.”

Tischler said helping other families through the process feels like deja vu, reminding her of the long months she spent in hospital chairs and doctor’s offices.

“It makes me feel good to be able to help whoever I can because I didn’t have that person,” Tischler said. “I had the doctors and I had family, but I didn’t have anybody who actually went through it personally.”