MEET OUR VOLUNTEERS - Somer Ball

Somer Ball
 
My name is Somer Ball, I am 30 yrs old and I'm an Arizona State Representative. I have 2 stepchildren and 4 children of my own, 2 of them I share with my wonderful husband Michael. Anndreana,12, Tryniti, 9, our son Jayson, 2, & our CHERUB survivor is RayAnne, 9 months. When I was 34 weeks pregnant I found out I had polyhydraminos plus RayAnne was breech. It wasn't until my weekly ultrasound at 35 weeks that they found she had finally flipped and saw that she had a left side CDH. RayAnne was born at 38 weeks gestation on April 26, 2012, at 4:16pm. She weighed 7.14 lbs. RayAnne was born at St. Joseph's Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona, where they were equipped with ECMO. However she did not need ECMO.

When RayAnne was born she was diagnosed with left congenital diaphragmatic hernia, persistent pulmonary hypertension, suspected sepsis and respiratory failure. She was intubated at 1 minute of life and placed on high frequency ventilation.  They gave her 40% chance of survival.  At 5 days old RayAnne had surgery to repair her diaphragm. Luckily, they were able to do it laprascopically. After 20 very long and very emotional days, RayAnne finally got to come home. Now she is a beautiful bubbly baby! She is my living angel! 

I am a stay at home mom. I not only volunteer for CHERUBS, but I am very active within my kids' school. I am apart of the booster club and volunteer in class rooms and around the school. When my kids get a little bit older I hope to go back to work as a medical assistant, nursing assistant, behavioral health tech or even go back to school (again) to get another degree under my belt.
Since becoming the Arizona State Representative, CHERUBS has changed my life in a positive way. I hope to be a great asset to CHERUBS and help raise awareness to save the lives of our beautiful babies! Thank you for having me.