Family Does Halloween “Southerey Strong”
By Krystle J Bailey
For two year old Brian Southrey Jr, life has had its fair share of challenges so far but the Southreys don’t let health complications slow them down from making a lifetime full of great memories.
Brian, who will be three years old in a few weeks, was born with an endocrine disorder that was misdiagnosed at an early age. He has suffered two cardiac arrests in his short life and has spent ten weeks in NICU at CHOP. Through his illnesses, Brian faces life with developmental delays and at just shy of three years old is unable to walk or talk yet. The Southrey’s make each day memorable for their family and celebrate the fact that they do everything together as a family of four.
Halloween is no exception and they don’t just dress up, they go all out with custom built costumes that accomodate Brian so that he can experience Halloween along with his big sister, Ava (7).
This past Halloween was the third year that Brian Southrey used his welding skills to build a mobile costume for his two children. Seven year old, Ava Southrey, picks out her costume for the year and Brian builds around her inspiration to include little brother, Brian Jr.
This year, the Southreys were a crew of pirates with their own pirate ship guiding them around their neighborhood. Ava was able to jump in and out of the ship to trick-or-treat while Brian Jr. sat at the helm in full pirate gear. Ava is always sure to bring candy back to her brother who waits on the sidewalk in their ship.
Last year, the Southrey family costume theme was Superheros with a full Captain America tank and the year before, Star Wars. Each year the costume gets bigger and more detailed and the Southrey kids look forward to their Halloween family adventure.
The costumes are made from mostly recycled material collected by friends and family. Alexandra Southrey shares, “He doesn’t build them, like ‘oh, my son can’t walk. So what am I going to do for him?’ It’s just that this is our family and this is how we do Halloween. We all love Halloween.”
Brian Southrey Jr is a local hero at just barely three years old. The Southrey family have been open in sharing their journey with Brian’s health through social media on their Facebook page – Southrey Strong. Follow their Facebook journey to stay up to date on the fundraising that the Southrey family does for CHOP as well as a spring fundraising walk.
Krystle J Bailey is a multimedia journalist, freelance writer, and self published author.
