Eulogy for Noah Harvey
By Sam Slobodian (grandfather) June 26, 2020
Begin by reading his obituary written by his parents.
Noah Harvey was born on April 30, 2012 and passed away Sunday, June 21, 2020, at his home in Greenwood. He was the son of Mathew and Susan Harvey. He attended Greenwood Christian School and most recently Suburban Christian School and had recently completed the 1st grade.
Noah loved spending time with his family and friends. Noah was unbelievably brave as he battled many medical hurdles and did it with his spectacular smile and infectious laugh. He didn't have an unkind bone in his body and had a heart of GOLD. He enjoyed making people laugh, and he would exude happiness when he was excited. He loved Spiderman, Batman, Harry Potter, and Lego's. He had a love for food and would watch it online and enjoyed helping in the kitchen. He wanted to be a cook or a Master Lego builder. Noah filled our home and our life with his infectious smile and laugh, silly humor, hugs and kisses, and unconditional love. Noah was loved by all he encountered - leaving a lasting impression of his kind heart, perseverance, and unique personality. We will miss everything about him. He will forever be our Brave Noah, and now our angel.
Besides his mother and father, Noah is survived by his twin sister Madison Harvey (8); his younger brother Shane Harvey (4); his paternal grandparents David & Kathy Reed and Ronald Harvey; his maternal grandparents Sam & Amy Slobodian; his aunts and uncles Sarah & Nate Crouch, Steven Slobodian, Sharon & Ashton Brandyberry, Stephanie & Aaron Anger, Misti & Mike Clark, Alan & Sarah Reed and the many cousins and friends who loved him.
Now I would like to share some information and memories about Noah and how his life touched so many. Noah’s story touched many people who never even met him. When I am done, we would like to give you who are here today an opportunity to briefly share a memory or a thought if you would like.
Noah’s life began like many prematurely born babies by spending the first few weeks of his life in the NeoNatal Intensive Care Unit at the hospital along with his sister Madison. Eventually they were both able to go home. After Noah was home one week, he suddenly developed problems breathing on June 19, 2012. At the doctors office things got worse and a Life Line Ambulance was called to rush him over to IU hospital. There he lost his pulse and doctors made a quick decision which involved once again calling a LifeLine Ambulance to transfer him to Riley’s children’s hospital. There the family was ushered into that dreaded room where often the worst news is told. There they explained that they had rushed to place Noah on a life support system which is called ECMO. At that point Noah’s heart function was down to 7% and the doctors were totally surprised he survived the procedure.
Later we learned that there were only 100 such machines in the whole world and that Noah was the 748th child in history to be placed on one. This machine took up a whole section of the pediatric intensive heart care unit and required 3 technicians to operate it 24/7 along with a specially trained nurse. This machine did save Noah’s life though it was very clear that he needed a transplant to live since surviving on ECMO was a very temporary proposition. However, qualifying for a transplant proved to be a daunting task since in Noah’s case he would need to undergo a very dangerous procedure which not only risked Noah’s life but which also held a high probability of clogging the ECMO machine which would end everything. Doctors were not in agreement to go that direction but soon the decision was made and sure enough the ECMO machine clogged. Remember that at that time there were only 100 ECMO machines in the world then. Well guess what, Riley’s children’s hospital had two of them and so Noah not only survived but the result qualified him to be placed on the heart transplant waiting list. One of the greatest moments in this whole story was when the beeper Susan was wearing went off indicating that a heart match had been found and that they needed to get to the hospital. Susan called Mat but he could not hear since he worked in a large very noisy welding shop. So she raced over to Mat’s work where she entered and screamed “Mat, we have a heart”. The machines all stopped, and the entire place broke out in loud cheers. What an amazing answer to prayer! What a gift of life! Noah survived the transplant on July 23, 2012 at the age of about 11 weeks. The heart of a child that young is only the size of a strawberry!
There was some sobering information the doctors gave the family during the transplant process. That was that even a successful heart transplant comes with serious challenges, hardships, medical issues, problems caused by the multitude of medications he would be on for life and that ultimately a donor heart would be rejected. That was certainly the case with Noah. On the medical side Noah’s journey through life was full of difficulties. In each year there were at least 50 visits to doctors and the hospital.
It always amazed me how well Noah took all the prodding, poking, and painful medical procedures. It certainly was not the case that he was an ideal recipient of medical intervention. The opposite was the case. If there was a possibility of a bad reaction or a chance of a further complication it seemed like poor little Noah would draw the short end of the stick every single time. Even an IV procedure would be a major event. Many times hospital staff had to call in a special team just to hook Noah up to an IV. What I mean by saying Noah took it well is how he accepted it. Every time he faced a procedure his mother Susan would patiently, carefully, lovingly explain to Noah what they are going to do and why. On many occasions I was there in the hospital room when Susan would have that kind of conversation with Noah and the response I heard every time from Noah was a very sweet little “Okay”.
If it was something as simple as taking a temperature the response was “Okay.”
If it was something as invasive as an operation where they would install a feeding port in his stomach and later an even larger device in his intestine so he could receive the nutrition he needed through a tube for hours each day, the response was the same. That sweet little “okay.”
In fact, there was only one time I remember when Noah was not Okay.
That was at one of the many birthday parties he enjoyed with his many cousins. This one was at a very exciting place called Chucky Cheese. All were having a great time, everybody was enjoying themselves. Then everything changed when their mascot, a character called Chuck E Cheese made his appearance. Noah was terrified! Everyone in the whole establishment knew that Noah was not Okay. He screamed bloody murder at least 100 decibels loud. Susan immediately put on her hospital voice trying to explain to Noah that everything was OK. But Noah would have none of it. He knew things were not OK. I have to say that it did not help that the dude they decided to put in that costume was 6 ft six and as wide as refrigerator and honestly the ugly head of the mascot looked more like a rat than a cartoon character! Noah only stopped screaming when his parents took him to the farthest corner away from Chuck E Cheese as possible.
With that one exception, how is it that Noah was able to take things so calmly, so peaceably, so sweetly? How could he be Okay? I believe I am looking at the answer to that question. Fact is, Noah had an amazing support system of folks who cared about him, loved him and prayed for him. God heard those prayers and gave Noah an amazing amount of His grace. Many of you are here. But literally there are people all over the world that knew about Noah and reached out to heaven asking God to bless him and that is one way that God did. He really did.
Despite the hospital visits, medical procedures and physical challenges God gave Noah a lot of joy. He really was a happy little boy who loved much and was greatly loved by many. He so much enjoyed the times with family, friends and cousins. There was indeed a lot of happiness in his life. When you are one of the sickest kids at the Riley Children’s hospital there is also a little bit of notoriety that comes with that as well. For example Noah was brought to the attention of the Make a Wish Foundation who sent Noah and his family on an unbelievable trip to Disneyland in Florida complete with a limousine ride to the airport, special attention from the airplane flight crew and a wonderful stay at the Give Kids the World resort. Free ice cream, free pony rides, free train rides, free crafts and wonderful meals for the whole family. On Noah’s 8th birthday not long ago, the community did an amazing drive by birthday parade in front of the Harvey home with police cars, fire trucks over 100 vehicles, a motorcycle brigade, and super hero’s. The batmobile even showed up and Noah actually got to ride in it. Noah was a very happy boy as he cruised the neighborhood in that batmobile. That event was so grand that Noah ended up on the local television news!
As grand of a day as that was there was a better day yet to come for Noah. That day was last Sunday. It was last Sunday that something pulled up to the Harvey home in Greenwood that was far greater than even the batmobile. It came from far away. From over the battlements of heaven. It was God’s angel in a heavenly chariot which came to take Noah home. Now, I didn’t actually hear it. None of us did. But we can easily imagine the heavenly shout out to Noah, Noah are you ready to go home? Are you ready to ride this chariot to see Jesus who loves you and died for you? Are you ready to leave all of the pain and suffering behind? Are you ready to go to that place where the sun always shines, where there is no more tears, no more crying and no more sorrow.
And we know what Noah said, in that sweet little voice. He said “Okay.”
