A must-read story to restore your faith in social media

An avid user of both platforms, I relish the ability to keep in touch with friends old and new, while making connections across the globe that would otherwise be impossible.

I’ll admit I was sceptical at first. I only joined Facebook to keep tabs on my far more social siblings’ lives in London. Then old friends looked me up and it quickly became a good way of catching up without actually catching up. Social schmoozing for lazy people. Perfect.

Twitter took a lot more convincing. On the surface it’s an arena for telling people what you’re currently eating, or harassing celebrities in the hope they’ll acknowledge your existence. And there are people who only ever do that.

But there are also people who use it to communicate, to teach and to learn. To give their short, sharp witticisms, or observations, or commentaries on life, to the world. Spend enough time and you will begin to build networks. You will learn new information, and of opportunities that might normally pass you by.

Used right, or at least not misused, social media is a place of possibility. Nowhere am I more convinced of this than with the story of Easton Friedel, a baby boy who has suffered more, and fought harder, in the 18 days he has been on this earth than most of us have in our entire lives.

Born in the United States with an extremely rare skin condition called Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB), it was obvious he was in strife from the outset. This rare skin disease causes the skin to be so fragile that the slightest friction, minor injury, heat, rubbing, or scratching causes severe blistering—both inside and outside the body.

My cousin, who has links to the family, posted a story about little Easton on Facebook, complete with a photo.

We’ve all seen these delivery suite photos. Some of us have taken them. Some have had these images thrust upon them on Facebook by obliviously happy new parents. Cue eye-rolling and skipping to the next post.

There was no skipping here. This beautiful boy had lost almost all the skin on his legs, as well as his arms and hands. Just looking at the picture was painful.

I clicked through the link to find out more. It soon became clear he was in for a fight. But not just him, his family too.

His parents, Jared and Danielle, have three other boys. They are a young family. Jared’s job is potentially in trouble. And Easton was going to need an awful lot of support, especially financial, in order to fight on. Bandages alone could cost $10,000 a month.

A fund for donations was set up. They hoped to raise $5,000. Thanks to social media, this is currently at $125,000 and climbing.

Family and friends continue the updates of Easton’s progress on Facebook. Every day a new alert pops up and is immediately ‘liked’ by hundreds of supportive followers, as well as providing a place to add messages of hope and love and prayer.

Many of us do not know this family, yet we have become intrinsically linked to them and their little boy, who continues his brave fight when most adults would have given up long ago.

There was a throwaway line in one such post, detailing how Danielle left the hospital to look after her other three boys, leaving Jared alone in the hospital with Easton.

I can only imagine what thoughts must have been going through his head. How many tears were shed over his son, for whom he could do so little. And yet still he was his father, no matter how hard it was at that moment to be so. He watched over and comforted him and dutifully changed his bandages (a delicate and time-consuming task that can take hours).

He didn’t know it, but likely all across the world there were fathers like me standing with him. That guy is my hero. I have never met him, I will probably never meet him, but I can honestly say that any time things get difficult in my life I will think to that moment. And I will know what being a father truly is. And I will take strength from that.

This family has touched my life, and countless others, thanks to social media. And thanks to social media, they have received emotional and financial support that will aid Easton’s fight for life.

While often misused in ways that have us reaching for the ‘Log Out’ button, little Easton has taught me that doing so would ensure stories like his are lost in the ether. And if he can fight through his suffering, we can certainly put up with the worst parts of social media for the greater good.

Easton Friedel is currently based at the Cinncinati Children’s hospital. Find out more about this amazing boy and his family, including how to donate to his cause, here: 

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