Extended Version: From Mercy Flights to Sports Nights our chat with Ashley Benoit Olivier

In this extended interview, our host Mary Baudoin recaps Part One of Ashley Benoit Olivier's episode from Season with an introduction before starting the part two content. 

Ashley gives us an update about her son Drew and the positive impacts of the Early Intervention program. She also talks about Mercy Medical Angels and Miracle Flights (the team that provided airplane trip free of charge for medical appointments), her family's incredible experience while staying at the Ronald McDonald House in Pennsylvania and Drew's involvement with sports, church and school. At the end of the interview, Mary summarizes the organizations that provide free room and board, transportation and other services when traveling with a loved one for medical appointments. 

Transcript

Recap of Part One:

Hi everyone. I’m Mary Baudoin from Lafayette, Louisiana, your host and podcast producer for This Ability Podcast. 

Welcome to Episode One of Season Two of our podcast. Before we dive into our conversation with Ashley Benoit-Olivier for Part Two, I want to take a few minutes to revisit her first appearance on This Ability Podcast, which aired back in Season One. That episode introduced listeners to Ashley, her family, and her youngest son, Drew, who lives with an incredibly rare genetic condition called mosaic trisomy eight.

Ashley shared that she and her husband live in Louisiana with their three redheaded children—Liam, Lucy, and Drew. During her pregnancy with Drew, doctors noticed some early red flags: cysts on the brain and a missing artery in the umbilical cord. While the initial suspicion was trisomy 18, Ashley opted out of amniocentesis, deciding that whatever the results were, they would continue with the pregnancy.

Drew was born early due to a sudden and dangerous loss of amniotic fluid, a condition that doctors later said could be linked to his chromosomal disorder. After his birth, he was diagnosed with mosaic trisomy 8, meaning only some of his cells carry the extra chromosome. This rare form of trisomy affects approximately One in 25,000 births, and mosaic forms are even more uncommon. Ashley noted that she found support and connection through a Facebook group for families navigating this diagnosis—a group with only about 700 members worldwide.

In the episode of This Ability Podcast, Ashley talked openly about how different life is with a rare diagnosis. From the very beginning, Drew had visible signs—like an unusually large soft spot on his head that didn’t close—and he’s undergone various surgeries and therapies. His development has been slower than that of his siblings. For example, Drew didn’t walk until age two and still works on physical milestones like jumping and running. But the family celebrates every step, quite literally.

Ashley also described how supportive her extended family has been, and how Drew’s older siblings show both typical sibling rivalry and a deeper kind of protective love. She shared the emotional moment when one of her older children had to field questions from other kids about Drew’s appearance—something many parents of children with disabilities can deeply relate to.

One of the most powerful parts of that first interview was when Ashley talked about Drew’s compromised immune system, which requires bi-weekly hemoglobin infusions at home. Because his immune response to vaccines is essentially nonexistent, these infusions serve as his primary protection against illness. Something like a minor virus that might only last 24 hours in another child could put Drew in the hospital for several days. She also mentioned the possibility of a T-cell or bone marrow transplant in the future due to his body fighting itself internally.

Despite the medical complexity, Ashley painted a picture of a joyful little boy who loves to eat, dance to music, and be with his family. She also introduced her Facebook page, Drew’s Journey, where she documents milestones, challenges, and moments of celebration. What started as a way to update friends and family during a benefit fundraiser has now become a platform for awareness, advocacy, and connection.

She reminded us that this journey is more than just a diagnosis—it’s a way of life. There’s no established “team” of experts for such a rare condition. Instead, Ashley and her family take each challenge as it comes. But what shines through is their love, resilience, and the belief that Drew’s future can still be bright.

As we get ready to welcome Ashley back to the podcast, I invite you to keep in mind how far she and her family have come, and how much more there is to share as Drew continues to grow and surprise everyone around him. You can find the first part of Ashley’s episode in season one on all major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, YouTube and other sites.  Let’s pick up where we left off with Part Two of Drew’s Journey.

Mary Baudoin (00:00):

Thank you for joining us for this episode of This Ability Podcast. I'm your host, Mary Baudoin, and joining us today is Ashley Benoit-Olivier. Ashley, how are you doing?

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (00:10):

I'm doing good. How are you?

Mary Baudoin (00:11):

Good. I have interviewed you before, but it's been like five years, so I know that some things have changed and I'd love to catch up with you. How's everybody doing?

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (00:22):

Doing really well, actually. I know so much can happen in five years. It's crazy. Drew is, I mean, he's going on to second grade. He's eight, going to turn nine.

Mary Baudoin (00:36):

Where does he go to school?

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (00:37):

He goes to Resholt Elementary.

Mary Baudoin (00:39):

Okay. Now, is he in a special education class or is he in the regular classroom?

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (00:44):

We were in regular ed up until last year. About halfway through they noticed that he needed some more specialized individual. We did self-contain him with a special education group and we saw tremendous success. I mean, he soared. His grades, he went from having all F's to A's and B's.

Mary Baudoin (01:06):

Oh, wow. He's a smart young man.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (01:09):

Transition into the-

Mary Baudoin (01:11):

Special education.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (01:12):

... Special education really was what he needed.

Mary Baudoin (01:14):

Has he made some friends, I'm sure?

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (01:16):

Oh, yes.

Mary Baudoin (01:18):

Because just going from the pictures that you've sent me of him in the past, and from what I know of you and see on Facebook, he looks like a very social little boy. He doesn't look like he's too shy or anything.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (01:27):

He is not shy at all. He is the life of the party. He has so many friends. Everybody says, "Hey, Drew, Drew." Especially my oldest is going into fifth grade. A lot of times his friends will be like, "Drew, hey Drew." They love him.

Mary Baudoin (01:43):

That's great. How can you not? Let's talk about, one of the first topics that I have on our list here is Early Intervention, because I don't think we had talked about it the last time we were here. Go ahead and tell me your experience with that program and what that was like for Drew.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (01:57):

The last time we were here, that was kind of like the beginning of our Early Intervention. I wanted to touch on that topic today because what I've seen now that he's eight, nine years old, I've seen what that Early Intervention at a young age did for him now. His physical has gotten so much better. He runs, he jumps, he climbs. Those were some very hard things for him to accomplish. Still not as quite as up to par with his peers, but the Early Intervention was key in getting him where he was today. That to me is very important. Especially, I mean, he's been in therapy since I think he was a month old. He had what they call torticollis where his neck, we had to do therapy on his neck. Just keeping on with that therapy really has gotten him to the place where he can, I mean, we just came back from a trip from Arkansas and he was hiking with us, he was swimming with us, he was climbing rocks and I attribute that to that early intervention and getting those therapies in.

Mary Baudoin (02:56):

I remember when you were here the first time and we talked that he had a very compromised immune system. Is his immune system still very vulnerable or has it strengthened?

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (03:06):

In the time since we last spoke, we have actually taken two trips to Philadelphia. We have actually pinpoint what is going on with his immune system, his protein losing. He has a protein-losing enteropathy. We've pinpointed all of that with the cardiovascular anomalies team in Philadelphia. He still does absolutely have a compromised immune system. It's kind of difficult. We saw the specialist in Philadelphia who figured out that it was something with the lymphatic system. We did testing, lymphatic mapping, very specialized tests that cannot be done here in Louisiana. We went to Children's Hospital up there. They discovered that his thoracic duct is wrapped around his aorta, just causing the fact of him losing his protein so much and even his IgG, which is what you need for your immune system.

Mary Baudoin (04:02):

Is there any type of remedy for that?

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (04:06):

Right now we're doing a temporary fix. He's on a steroid, take steroids every day, and then there is actually, what's funny is because in true Drew fashion, he's very, very specialized, and so the cardiovascular anomalies team actually said, "We've never seen anything like this before. We've never read about anything like this before. We're not quite sure how to fix it just yet."

Mary Baudoin (04:29):

Okay.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (04:30):

Yeah, in true Drew fashion.

Mary Baudoin (04:33):

He's going to teach a lot of people a lot of things.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (04:35):

We remember they came in after procedure. I mean that lymphatic mapping procedure was over eight hours. I think they were in there for 10 hours, long time.

Mary Baudoin (04:47):

What does that consist of exactly?

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (04:49):

They go through different access point and then they send dye, and so they look at it with the dye and see-

Mary Baudoin (04:56):

Is he in an MRI machine the whole time?

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (04:59):

I'm not really sure, some sort of MRI machine or something. The doctor came in, he was like, "He's a special boy." The cardiovascular doc came in. He was like, "He's one of a kind." Because of this thoracic duct wrapped around his aorta. He loses his protein and he loses IgG. He technically doesn't have a immune... We've discovered in these last five years, he technically doesn't really have an immune deficiency, it's just that his body loses those immunities. His doctor actually said that we could kind of hold off on his... And when he was three we were doing IgG therapy-

Mary Baudoin (05:36):

Was that the hemoglobin transfusions?

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (05:37):

Yes.

Mary Baudoin (05:38):

I remember you speaking about that. He no longer takes these.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (05:42):

We are right now because he's not sick, haven't had any issues, his doctor approved him to stay off of them for now. Now he does take antibiotics three times a week. Other than that, that's a big win for us.

Mary Baudoin (05:55):

Oh, definitely. I remember when you were about the blood transfusions, I thought, wow, that's a lot on not just his little body, but probably you as mom and your husband as well. A little... It's something you have to do, but it's something that how you kind of go into nurse mode.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (06:12):

Unfortunately.

Mary Baudoin (06:13):

... This is something that I have to do.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (06:15):

And as a special needs mom, you would know this for sure, it's a crazy feeling like you know, need to give this to your child because it's going to keep them safe, but at the same time, they're screaming at you not to hurt them and your mom, and you're not supposed to be the one to hurt them. It is a very, very teeter totter there. You're like, we have to do this because this is what keeps them safe, but at the same time, you're supposed to be mom and keep them from having anything hurt them.

Mary Baudoin (06:43):

Ashley, how did you keep it together mentally? Or did you or did you not?

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (06:50):

Well, I do have to say, yeah, I didn't really keep it together very good. Sometimes you have to laugh to not to cry.

Mary Baudoin (06:55):

Absolutely. I believe laughter is the best medicine.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (06:58):

And I have to say my husband and I, our faith is very strong, so that helped a lot in the right mental capacity.

Mary Baudoin (07:05):

What church do you guys go to?

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (07:07):

We go to St. Edward's Catholic Church, and that's in Richard.

Mary Baudoin (07:11):

You have three children total, right? How old are they? What are their names again?

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (07:15):

Liam, he's 11 and then Lucy, she's 10, and then Drew, he's 8.

Mary Baudoin (07:20):

Y'all all go to church together?

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (07:22):

We all go to church together. Actually, I sing at Mass, and so they sit with their dad downstairs and I sit upstairs and we all go to church together.

Mary Baudoin (07:29):

He follows along pretty well.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (07:31):

Oh yeah, he does. He has a very great relationship with our priest. They fist bump, he's always saying, "Why Father Korey does this or why Father Korey does that?" He's very inquisitive. He wants to know why we do this, why we do that. Lately we've had a lot of why questions.

Mary Baudoin (07:48):

Curious Drew.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (07:49):

He's learning. Yeah. I'm like, "Go ahead, ask all the why question questions you want, because that's how you learn."

Mary Baudoin (07:55):

Let's go back to the trip to Philadelphia. I know you mentioned, you had mentioned to me a while back about a team of airplane pilots. That's the same team that flew you guys out there for free, but there was some type of medical, I guess, allowance for doing these trips. Can you tell us a little bit more about that group?

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (08:13):

Absolutely. There's two groups out there. We've actually used both groups because we've been to Philadelphia twice. They are absolutely amazing that they have groups like this that help people in need. Our first trip to Philadelphia, we used Mercy Medical Angels. Both of these groups you can find online. Mercy Medical Angels, there is some stipulation, you have an application to fill out. Your doctor has to clear you because you have to be able to sit on your own. You have to not need any type of medical attention, not anybody bedridden or whatever the deal may be. The patient has to be 17 years or younger, there are some other stipulations.

Mary Baudoin (08:51):

You fill out an application?

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (08:53):

You do. Mercy Medical Angels actually not only pays, they pay for the patient and the mother or the father, patient and one other person to fly, and then they also have ground transportation. If you need train or if you need a gas card, if you decide to be driving there, Mercy Medical Angels offers those types of things.

Mary Baudoin (09:15):

Is there any kind of distance restriction like, okay, so we're here in Louisiana. If I need to go to New York, will they help?

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (09:21):

I think they help with the gas or the train, which was researching them because I researched them some more it was very, that was, that's a good thing to have.

Mary Baudoin (09:31):

As a special needs mom, my husband and I we both work, but anytime we can save money, we're going to try to do that.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (09:38):

Absolutely. Absolutely.

Mary Baudoin (09:40):

Gas cards can be a huge help too.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (09:44):

Huge help. Huge help. Yes, they have these different Mercy Medical Angels, and then that was who we went with the first time when we went to Philadelphia. The second time we went, actually my sister found this group, they're called Miracle Flights, and I've actually seen some of their, they have merchandise and stuff in the airports, like in the airport-

Mary Baudoin (10:01):

Like terminals?

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (10:02):

... Shops. Yeah. Yeah. They only strictly do commercial flights. They actually pay for mom and dad to fly with the patient. The only stipulation that they have, they have those age requirements. You do have to be cleared by your physician. And both of these companies, I do remember having to give them, I don't remember if it was check stubs or our tax documents.

Mary Baudoin (10:23):

W-2.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (10:23):

... It's like it has to be with so many days before your appointment or so many days before your, because they have to get those flight tickets together. With Miracle Flights, we flew Southwest the whole time, which is actually amazing because Southwest will let families, there's no seating assignment, Southwest will allow you to, we'll call for families before the rest of the group of people so that the families can sit together.

Mary Baudoin (10:52):

In your travels, you guys have stayed at the Ronald McDonald's House?

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (10:56):

Yes.

Mary Baudoin (10:57):

Tell me all about that.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (10:59):

That I swear is like Disneyland. Actually the Ronald McDonald House in Philadelphia was the very first Ronald McDonald House ever built, ever, ever. That they have a big plaque there that tells you the story of the Ronald McDonald House and that they were the first ones to be... They are so accommodating. They have a shuttle that takes you... In Philadelphia, they have Children's Hospital, Johns Hopkins, and there's another one. It's like three major hospitals all on one block. It's huge. You wouldn't even, it's like a city. Big old city. We were definitely country come to town. They have a transportation system, so you can get on the shuttle in the morning and it runs every 30 minutes. No matter what time your appointment is, you will always have a shuttle to your doctor's appointment, your procedure, whatever the deal may be.

Mary Baudoin (11:48):

How accommodating. And I'm presuming, Lexi's in a wheelchair, it's all accessible?

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (11:53):

Absolutely.

Mary Baudoin (11:54):

I've never been to Philadelphia.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (11:55):

It's all wheelchair accessible. It runs 24 hours a day.

Mary Baudoin (11:59):

Nice.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (12:00):

Yes, especially for parents who are there. A lot of the parents there, I met their children were in ICU or they have a huge NICU program out there, so a lot of parents were there, had to leave their babies at the Hospital. if you get a phone call in the middle of the night, you got to get... It was amazing. They have the shuttle system, so we didn't have to worry about that.

Mary Baudoin (12:24):

Your whole family went, it was you and your kids and Drew?

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (12:26):

Just me and my husband and Drew. They do have, we absolutely could have brought our other two kids, they had families there that, because not a lot of families have that support at home that can keep their other children when they have something come up like this. There were a lot of families that did have the whole crew there.

Mary Baudoin (12:45):

The Ronald McDonald House, a picture in my head, like a big room with lots of toys and things like that. But what is it? Is it kind of like an apartment building? Is it like a hotel? Is it like a conference center kind of building? What is it exactly?

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (13:01):

It's kind of all of those things. You walk in there, actually they have, you wouldn't imagine how much they have. They have this beautiful grand piano when you walk in and it's available to anybody, especially me who I play piano and I love to play piano. It's available for anybody to just sit down and play and make music. And music is so important when you're going through so much. That's a very important part of helped me stay sane.

Mary Baudoin (13:25):

Faith and music.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (13:26):

Yeah, faith and music.

Mary Baudoin (13:27):

Now, for me, you might want to throw in a little alcohol every now...

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (13:31):

But they have a huge movie theater. They had a movie theater and we got to enjoy every night they do a different movie. We get to enjoy popcorn. They have popcorn for us, reclining chairs, like an actual movie theater.

Mary Baudoin (13:45):

Nice.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (13:46):

You can actually, because the first time we went Covid was really, really, really-

Mary Baudoin (13:51):

You guys were traveling in the Covid years?

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (13:53):

We were traveling in the Covid years, yes. They had time allotments. You could go down in the morning and you could sign your name up for eight o'clock tonight I want to be in the movie theater, my family, and if it was available then you could sign up for it. And so it was just you and your family in the movie theater.

Mary Baudoin (14:08):

Everything was free there.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (14:09):

Everything was free, completely free. They fed us. They fed us-

Mary Baudoin (14:12):

I'm presuming it wasn't a Big Mac.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (14:14):

It was not a Big Mac. That's what my husband said. It's like how can the Ronald McDonald House not have a Quarter Pounder?

Mary Baudoin (14:21):

I just had to ask, okay.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (14:23):

It was not actually, they have, and I've looked up on the Ronald McDonald House website. They have, you can volunteer. Every night that we were fed was a company, and it was a company that their employees came and they fed us. It was a night sponsored, it was barbecue or-

Mary Baudoin (14:42):

Oh, I see. A restaurant around the area would come in and cater or-

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (14:47):

Either a restaurant or one night it was a law office and it was all the that worked in the office and the paralegals and all these people who worked in the office, they came and they were in the kitchen serving us.

Mary Baudoin (14:58):

I love that. I mean, that's really given back to the community.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (15:01):

Absolutely. Every night was a different local business that their employees came and they served the food or whatever that may be. And I mean, the food was very good. I'm never... It fed us. It kept us from having to spend money, food. There was always something in the, there's these big ice box refrigerators, not ice box, refrigerator type things.

Mary Baudoin (15:22):

My husband says ice box. I'm like, "What century were you born in?"

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (15:27):

I'm old, so-

Mary Baudoin (15:27):

No, you are not. I think his parents use that term, and so it just kind of got inherited into his vocabulary.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (15:35):

They had food there constantly. I mean, grapes, apples, oranges, you name it. They always had cold sandwiches, always had protein bars, which was great, especially if you are watching what you eat. They always had options for everybody, whether you were healthy eating or not healthy eating.

Mary Baudoin (15:52):

And then they put you up in a room. I mean, it's kind of like a basic hotel room type of?

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (15:57):

Kind of a hotel room. We had a bed, there was a twin size bed and then a full-sized bed, and then we had really truly looked like a hotel room where it had a TV and they had a little refrigerator. There was a washer and dryer on our floor. Each floor has a washer and dryer, kind of a line of them. Second time around, we were there for 10 days.

Mary Baudoin (16:17):

But that's nice to be able to do laundry.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (16:19):

And when I say they pay for every, they literally think of everything. The laundry, it was like 50 cents. It was like a quarter for the washer, a quarter for the dryer. It's 50 cents to wash and dry your clothes, and it pays for... Because they give you laundry pods. You don't even have to buy laundry detergent.

Mary Baudoin (16:35):

Fun.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (16:35):

You go downstairs and you say, can I get some laundry pods? They give you a little baggie of laundry pods to do your laundry. I mean, they have everything. You don't have to buy anything. Trash bags-

Mary Baudoin (16:45):

Well, I'm really glad that you're talking about it because I know myself and probably everybody listening, we've been to McDonald's, some of us more than once.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (16:55):

Absolutely.

Mary Baudoin (16:56):

You see the little drop box by the checkout window or inside to support the Ronald McDonald House and here, I don't know if we have any houses in Louisiana, but it kind of makes you wonder, okay, what is this money really going toward?

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (17:11):

Correct.

Mary Baudoin (17:11):

What do they do? What do they do with the money? And it sounds like it's really helping such a great group of you and your family.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (17:17):

Absolutely. We always-

Mary Baudoin (17:19):

I'm definitely continue to put my change in that little Ronald McDonald House.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (17:23):

Yes, the little box.

Mary Baudoin (17:24):

Dispenser. Yes.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (17:25):

They even have, if you do at the kiosk, they'll ask you, "Do you want to donate a dollar to the Ronald McDonald House?" My husband and I say from now, we were always kind of weary about that because like you said, what is it really going to, is it going to the big CEO of McDonald's?

Mary Baudoin (17:38):

Exactly.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (17:39):

Or is it really going to help? And no, he's like, "I will forever continue to give to Ronald McDonald House because-"

Mary Baudoin (17:44):

I'm glad to hear that, because you're really one of the first people I've spoken to the Ronald McDonald House. One of our previous guests that I interviewed via Zoom, Katie from North Carolina, she's worked with the McDonald Houses before. She would do care packages to bring to them. I don't know if she would stay there. She actually has stayed there, but we didn't go into detail about as much as you have, so it's good to hear that though. It really is.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (18:09):

Those care packages that she spoke of, they go to all the families. You go in, when you get into the Ronald McDonald House, they have a social worker that meets with you, and each time you go, they give you a care package, whether it be... Both times we've gotten these nice bags that are full with all kinds of toys for Drew. The last time we were there, it was summertime, and so they had their first ever summer camp, in-house summer camp. Each day, I can't remember if it was two weeks. It started before we got there. When we got there, they were so accommodating. We had missed the deadline to go to a Phillies baseball game. They were taking a-

Mary Baudoin (18:46):

That's the picture.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (18:46):

Yes.

Mary Baudoin (18:46):

With the ring.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (18:47):

Yes. They were taking a whole group to a Phillies baseball game, and we actually missed the deadline to sign up. And so I went downstairs and I'm like, "Can we please sign up still? I mean, we would love to go, Drew would love to do this." And they were like, "Oh, absolutely. We'll put your name down. We will get you tickets together." Regarding at the last moment, and they paid for our ticket. Not only did they pay for our tickets, they gave everybody a $50 voucher to go get food or whatever-

Mary Baudoin (19:13):

Hot dogs.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (19:15):

Hot dogs, whatever. And it could either be used in the souvenir department or it could be used for food. And I mean, we had a spectacular time at the Phillies game, and Drew is now the hugest Phillies... He's a Phillies fan and a Philadelphia Eagles fan because the time before that, the Philadelphia Eagles, it was during the Super Bowl time and they actually visited the Ronald McDonald House.

Mary Baudoin (19:36):

National Football League participating in things like that are the feel good stories, because sometimes we don't hear about those things in the news, but it's nice that you hear that they give their time.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (19:48):

Give back. Yeah.

Mary Baudoin (19:48):

Yeah, give back. For sure. Speaking of giving back and fun stuff on a local level, I know that Drew has participated in the Dreams Softball League.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (19:58):

He has.

Mary Baudoin (19:58):

Tell me all about that.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (19:59):

He loves him some baseball. Like I said, he's now a baseball fan for life. I don't even remember how I found Dreams. He's been in the league for three, four years now. I mean, we love the Dreams and what they do.

Mary Baudoin (20:13):

I think I had invited you to be a part of the Dreams, the mom support group.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (20:17):

Yes.

Mary Baudoin (20:17):

They have so many other things too-

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (20:20):

They have so many. It's not just baseball and if you see they're out and about with their meat pies, you got to go get this.

Mary Baudoin (20:26):

The meat pie truck. Just for those listening, if they're not sure about it, Dreams has the meat pie manufacturing company where they employ, I think it's like 10 to 15 people with special needs and they make meat pies and that is their job. And then there's a food truck that they have, so they'll go out and sell the meat pies. It helps to give money back to the special needs employees or Dreams. And then it also, it's community awareness for them and you get some really good food out of it too-

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (20:54):

Absolutely.

Mary Baudoin (20:54):

I mean to tell you, they got all kinds of flavors and I believe they started doing desserts too, like that little apple pies now. That's a good thing.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (21:01):

Yeah. I mean what they do is amazing. Like you said, not only do they do baseball, but they do bowling and they do-

Mary Baudoin (21:09):

They do this Camp Unique-

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (21:11):

Yes.

Mary Baudoin (21:11):

... The summer camp. Has he participated in that?

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (21:13):

We have not-

Mary Baudoin (21:14):

Not yet?

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (21:15):

... Not yet because I'm not sure if we're at that stage yet where I could just leave him and he'd be okay, but eventually one day we will. The things that I see them post on Facebook are so wonderful. We really need that in our community.

Mary Baudoin (21:28):

I'm all about that. I know you guys have a Facebook page for Drew called Drew's Journey. Do you still keep that up or is-

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (21:35):

I do.

Mary Baudoin (21:36):

... That on the back burner? No? Okay. You do?

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (21:39):

Yes and no.

Mary Baudoin (21:40):

Okay.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (21:41):

I go through moments where I do post a lot. I do need to get back. Kind of jumpstart that.

Mary Baudoin (21:46):

Yeah, there you go.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (21:46):

The reason why I haven't posted as much because honestly, Drew's been doing so good that-

Mary Baudoin (21:52):

There's nothing to report other than he's doing good. That's a wonderful thing, Ashley, that is-

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (21:57):

We haven't been in a hospital in almost two years.

Mary Baudoin (22:01):

Holy smokes. That's great.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (22:02):

Yeah. That to me blows my mind that we haven't even a little... Not recently, the older kids had some type of sickness, I guess this was about six months ago, that Drew also got, but he got better before they. He got better, quicker and better than they did. This is weird. I was like, this is so weird that-

Mary Baudoin (22:21):

Your even saying it's weird because you're probably thinking, oh my gosh, he's going to be in the hospital.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (22:27):

My mind was blown. Obviously it could be the antibiotics or the steroids he takes, but still it doesn't matter. Whatever's working is working.

Mary Baudoin (22:35):

It's working. Is there anything else that you'd like to talk about that we haven't covered?

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (22:40):

I don't think so. The Ronald McDonald House, I mean, I could go on and on and on.

Mary Baudoin (22:44):

I know it sounds so incredible, and I'm curious to see how many locations they have and where they are.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (22:52):

They do have quite a few. They used to have one here in New Orleans, it has closed down because New Orleans, the Children's Hospital in New Orleans has what they call the Hog House now, which is their monies go to help the children's hospital here in New Orleans.

Mary Baudoin (23:06):

Right. That makes sense.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (23:06):

And I know they help those in Memphis at St. Jude, they have a big Ronald McDonald House. In Philadelphia, they have a quarantine side and they have a regular health side, so if you're on chemo or some type of immune suppressant type therapy, you go on the quarantine side and its only access is if you have a special key to get in there. It's not for just anybody.

Mary Baudoin (23:33):

That's nice to hear that's regulated like that.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (23:36):

Yeah, it's very, very regulated. And if you have cough or any type of thing that you may... We went, my husband, he was like, I'm like, [inaudible 00:23:44] stop coughing-

Mary Baudoin (23:45):

Shut up.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (23:47):

Stop it, they're going to look at you weird.

Mary Baudoin (23:47):

[inaudible 00:23:48].

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (23:48):

Especially during Covid. During Covid, we were there during Covid time and here's my husband hacking up a lung. I'm like-

Mary Baudoin (23:55):

Oh, Jesus, shut up.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (23:56):

Stop, they're going to think you have Covid and you don't. It was wild. I'm like, "I know you got a mask on, but still try to contain it a little bit."

Mary Baudoin (24:07):

Try to be a little discreet, honey. We're not in Louisiana. They don't know us here.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (24:12):

That was fun too. My sister has a Cajun French line of, she does these cute little shirts and Drew has on that says, "Pas bon." We wore our pas bon shirt in Philadelphia and got so many questions. Why does that boy have a shirt on like that? We had to-

Mary Baudoin (24:28):

They probably don't know what that means.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (24:28):

No.

Mary Baudoin (24:31):

They're probably thinking PA as in the initials of their city, so they're probably like, "Okay, bon, like good Philadelphia. They probably didn't get it.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (24:44):

No, not at all.

Mary Baudoin (24:45):

Which pas bon is not good in French.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (24:49):

We had got so many questions about pas bon and our shirt.

Mary Baudoin (24:53):

Cajuns going to Philadelphia. I love it.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (24:55):

Cajuns in Philadelphia.

Mary Baudoin (24:56):

If I ever go to Philadelphia, I'm going to get one of those pas bon shirts.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (25:00):

We were out and walking one day and I was like, "Mais la," we're just looking at something. I was like, "Mais la, look at that." And my husband said, everybody stop gave me the hairy eyeball. Why is this lady... What does that even mean?

Mary Baudoin (25:12):

Well, you take for granted things that you would say every day. Around here in Louisiana we are a little different with our language.

Ashley Benoit-Olivier (25:20):

Yes.

Mary Baudoin (25:20):

Yeah. Well, Ashley, it's been great visiting with you. Thank you so much for the updates on Drew and your other children. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you everyone for listening to This Ability Podcast. If you're enjoying listening to our podcast, be sure to like our Facebook page and subscribe to our YouTube channel for more video podcasts at This Ability Podcast for updates and new episode postings. Goodbye everyone, and thank you for listening.

Summary of Free Programs:

Thank you all for joining us for Part Two of Ashley Benoit-Olivier’s powerful and inspiring story on This Ability Podcast. Her episode gave us look into what life has been like in the years since his diagnosis of mosaic trisomy 8—and the incredible network of support that’s helped make each step forward possible, which include Early Intervention, Mercy Medical Angels, Miracle Flights, and Ronald McDonald House. So I’d like to remind our viewers to Remember that those resources are available.

One of the first things Ashley talked about today was Early Intervention—a topic we didn’t fully explore in her first episode. Now that Drew is 8 years old, she’s able to look back and see the real, lasting impact of the services he received during those early developmental years. From therapies to milestone tracking, Early Intervention helped lay a foundation that Drew continues to build on every day. If you’re a parent of a child with a rare diagnosis or developmental delay, please don’t wait—reach out to your local Early Steps or Early Intervention program. Those early years matter.

We also talked about traveling for specialized care, which is often necessary for families navigating rare medical conditions. Ashley shared how their family made two trips from Louisiana to Philadelphia for expert treatment. On their first trip, they received assistance from Mercy Medical Angels, a national nonprofit that provides free transportation for children and one caregiver, including flights, train passes, and even gas cards. All it takes is a simple application, physician clearance, and proof of need—and they’ll do everything they can to help.

Their second trip was made possible by another outstanding group: Miracle Flights. This organization covers the cost of commercial flights for children and their parents when traveling for medical care, and Ashley praised how smoothly their experience went—especially with family-friendly airlines like Southwest, which allowed them to board early and sit together as a family. Both organizations are a lifeline for families who would otherwise struggle to access care across the country.

And of course, no conversation about medical travel would be complete without mentioning the Ronald McDonald House. Ashley described their stay at the original Ronald McDonald House in Philadelphia as something close to Disneyland—welcoming, joyful, and supportive. From free lodging to shuttle transportation every 30 minutes, it gave their family a place to breathe, rest, and recover while staying just minutes from major hospitals.

These are the kinds of resources that can make all the difference when you're navigating a rare disease journey. Whether you’re a family facing a new diagnosis or a friend looking to support someone who is—organizations like Early Intervention, Mercy Medical Angels, Miracle Flights, and Ronald McDonald House are out there, ready to help.

Ashley’s story reminds us that hope, help, and healing don’t happen in isolation. They happen through connection, community, and the kindness of strangers. Be sure to follow Drew’s Journey on Facebook to continue supporting their family and learning more about trisomy awareness. Thanks again for tuning in.