Gift Helps Boy Breathe Easier

Many of us don’t give a thought about our ability to breathe naturally from moment to moment.

Not so for one young Omaha boy.

Now there’s a special gift that will let him breathe much easier.

Like most six-year-olds, Seth Guffey loves cookies, but Seth isn’t like most children.

He’s endured much as a young boy. He was born with pulmonary hypertension, high blood pressure in the lungs.

Kristi Guffey, Seth mother says “By the time he was four he had seven surgeries, four to five before he was born.”

Seth is on a waiting list for a heart and lung transplant.

It’s a major procedure his parents hope he can avoid.

“As long as he stays the way he is — we won’t have to worry about a lung transplant anytime soon,” says Mo Guffey, Seth’s father.

Channel 6 news even followed Seth through one of his visits to Children’s Hospital last year.

Seth told us about his visit to the Magic Kingdom through the Make-A-Wish foundation.

Now, he’s gearing for another trip, one that will take him to Washington, D.C. and Orlando as an ambassador for the Children’s Miracle Network.

“They give us hope children will grow up to be adults. They’ve definitely given us our son back,” says Kristi Guffey.

This time Seth is packing a much lighter load because of a brand new oxygen system.

“With this system weighing in at 17 pounds we can enjoy freedom and the mobility to travel.”

Seth’s old unit weighed 50 pounds and when the family traveled oxygen tanks tagged along.

Now, Seth can actually wheel around his own oxygen and because of his better health, he doesn’t need it all of the time.

His father only sees one drawback with this new life enhancing device.

“He’s going to be on the run so keeping up with him will be a challenge. We’re really happy with it.”

Seth’s family will also save money when they travel.

When Seth flew before, his family would have to rent expensive tanks from the airlines to use while in flight.

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