BILLINGS — A Billings family is looking for community support ahead of their 2-year-old autistic son's open heart surgery next week.
That surgery is scheduled to take place in Denver, and will attempt to fix Lucas Latray's issues with his heart.
Watch this video to hear Lucas' story:
Latray's mom Barbara Satrom said she knew that he would have some challenges in his life the moment she and her wife adopted him.
"We knew right away that Lucas was going to be different," Satrom said. "He did have some complications."
Satrom said that Lucas had issues breathing early on, but also struggled cognitively.
"He was always super, duper happy, but he didn't quite understand things that other people did," Satrom said. "He took a lot longer to learn."
Upon further testing, the family learned that Lucas had autism.
"It's scary because you don't want people to look at your child differently," Satrom said. "I don't ever want anyone to look at Lucas and think that he's limited."
While their was some comfort learning about Lucas' diagnosis, other health issues continued. Eventually, the family discovered that he had issues with his heart.
"It's shock," Satrom said with tears in her eyes. "You find out that something is wrong with your baby, and I mean no parent wants to hear that."
That's why Lucas will undergo surgery in Denver next weekend. For Satrom, the timing couldn't be worse as it comes on the heels of her father's death. Often times, her father would help with the financial burdens she faced, but also with emotional support.
"It's really hard not having him here for this," Satrom said. "I know that he would be really proud of us though because we don't give up. We're going to keep going."
While the days ahead will be challenging, the community is rallying behind the family. A GoFundMe page has been set up in hopes of helping with some of the costs.
