Family of B.C. boy who survived near-drowning struggling to access provincial funding

With his mom holding his hand to support his balance, four-year-old Rya Hope is now able to walk.

It’s another remarkable milestone on his road to recovery.

“He’s a miracle. He’s walking. Starting to say more words. He’s eating fully by mouth,” said his mom, Natalie Hope.

Not that long ago, these things may have seemed impossible.

“June 1 of last year our biggest nightmare happened,” said Hope.

That nightmare unfolded at Cultus Lake in Chilliwack. While his mom was occupied with caring for his younger brother, Rya got out of the house and rode his bike off a dock. Hope began a frantic search.

“I saw his body floating there (in the water) and he had drowned. So he was… gone essentially,” she recalled.

“Thanks to the firefighters who were doing volunteer work that day (and) heard me crying, essentially screaming for help and they started doing CPR on him,” said Hope.

She said Rya’s heart stopped for about half an hour before firefighters brought him back. He was rushed to B.C. Children’s Hospital.

His parents would soon learn Rya had suffered a brain injury.

The couple, desperate to get him the best care possible, heard about hyperbaric oxygen treatment offered in the United States for near-drowning victims.

Through fundraising, they were able to charter a medical flight to New Orleans for the treatment.

Before they left B.C. Children’s, Hope said Rya had been referred to the province’s At Home Program, which provides financial support to children with severe disabilities. As they waited for months to hear back from the program, the Hopes spent thousands of dollars on medical equipment for Rya deemed necessary by his family doctor.

“We needed to buy an oxygen concentrator because his lungs were still healing,” she explained, adding there were many other expenses.

“We needed a suction, because at that time, he would vomit and because his swallow wasn’t good at all, he could aspirate,” Hope said.

Last November, she submitted receipts for the equipment and supplies that she understood would be covered through the At Home Program. But she would later learn she’d been rejected for reimbursement because her son hadn’t been accepted into the program at the time the purchases were made.

The family has been tangled up in bureaucracy ever since.

She said the program offers coverage for mileage related to medical appointments, but won’t reimburse the family for the costs of a specialized treatment recommended for her son through his brain injury program. The Hope’s are paying for the treatment privately.

“I understand there isn’t help for everything he needs, but the few things they say they cover, to create all these obstacles to us getting help, it just doesn’t feel right,” she said.

“It almost makes you feel like it’s set up so you will not get the funding because no one can fight that much. You only have so much fight in you,” Hope added.

When asked by CTV News, the Minister of Children and Family Development, Grace Lore, said her heart goes out to the family and that she will make sure her ministry is working with the Hopes.

“I’ve asked the executive director of policy to reach out to them and be working to explore solutions,” said Lore.

Hope said her family is not the only one facing obstacles with the program and she wants to be a voice for others as well.

“I just want to be someone that…can help advocate for other people that this is wrong and it has to change,” she said through tears.

She said the change is needed to support children like Rya as they heal.

Rya still has balance and coordination issues and only says a few words, but his mom said he continues to see improvement.

“We’re really hopeful as we do a stem cell treatment Monday in Arizona, that (his words) will come back more,” she said, adding that the family continues to fundraise to help with costs. 

“We know he’s going to be okay. It’s just going to take a lot of heart, and a lot of fighting, and a lot of treatment and a lot of prayer,” she said.

The family has set up on an online shop, Ryah's Revival Store, to help fund his medical treatments.