Little Jacob Martin was born ten months ago and he has earned every one of them. Born September 10th, 2014 to Megan and Eric Martin, both employees in the Lewis Accounting department, Jacob was set to have surgery to remove a nagging cyst on his bile duct. He was only five months old at the time.
“This is just our story, but there’s lots of them”
– Megan Martin, Accountant at the Lewis Group of Companies.
On that February day, things got serious. After ten hours in what was supposed to be a two-hour surgery, Doctors found that his small liver was in trouble and he needed a transplant. In less than 24 hours, Jacob was on a helicopter bound for Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles, his name on a waiting list.
Within two months, a match was found. It was a member of his own family: his aunt Robin, who also works at Lewis as an Insurance Administrator. The transplant was a success and although he would go on to beat two tough infections, Jacob’s liver was now functioning normally and improving every day.
During the surgery and recuperation, the 40+ people in the Lewis Accounting team organized a company bake sale and raised close to $2000 to help the family during the recovery of not just young Jacob, but their three co-workers. “It’s amazing that people can be so generous and reach out to us like that”, Megan says. “It’s a good feeling”.
“People might see Lewis on a building or pay their rent to an apartment every month, but this company is in their community, it’s a part of their community”.
Both parents, Megan and Eric, along with Aunt Robin, have since returned to work. As for their Jacob, he is now 10 months old, gaining good weight and doing very well.
