Eli's Angel Hands

Eli's Angel Hands This is our family charity in memory of our Son Eli Douglass Gibson who died from a Congenitial Diaphragmatic Hernia. We provide care packages.

Our Story...

After an uneventful 40 week pregnancy, on Thursday, September 30, 2010, my husband and I went to Boone Hospital Center to have our son (Eli Douglass), our second child. It was a perfect and relatively easy labor and delivery, 6 hours after being induced our beautiful son was born. Immediately we could tell something wasn't right as he was having a lot of trouble trying to breath, it

went from being one of the happiest days of our life to one of the worst. Within an hour, the neonatologist was standing in front of me telling me that my son, who looked as perfect as can be, had a congenital diaphragmatic hernia, and would need to be life flighted to St. Louis Children’s Hospital to have surgery. Telling us that they were unsure of our chances of him making it. You go from thinking your going to be holding your baby in your arms introducing him to his big sister later that day, to trying to comprehend all the machines, medicines, and terminology the doctors and nurses are feeding you at a rapid pace. Until that day, like most people, we had never heard of a congenital diaphragmatic hernia. A Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH) occurs when the diaphragm fails to form or to close totally and an opening allows abdominal organs to grow into the chest cavity, which inhibits lung growth. Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia occurs in approximately 1of every 2500 births. Roughly 50% of babies born with a Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia do not survive. Of the 50% that do survive, most will endure long hospital stays, feeding issues, asthma and other medical issues. There are more babies born with CDH than with Cystic Fibrosis (1 in 3900) and its almost as common as Spina Bifida (7 in 10,000), but there is very little awareness, even less research. On Saturday October 2, 2010 God saw that our son was struggling and decided that his work here on earth was done, and so our Eli chose wings over feet. In my grief adjusting to my new life, my new world of having both a heavenly and earth angel I find myself trying to make sure the memory of my son goes on, that he can help others, that I can feel close to him. We have had so many people reach out to us in our time of sorrow, friends, family, people we don’t know and may never meet. We wanted to reach out to others who have been thru a similar life changing time. Our hope is to touch those families and let them know, that they are not alone, others have traveled a similar path, and we are here praying and supporting them. And so began Eli’s Angel Hands............

42 Hours old wasn’t long enough but I have comfort that you are with the Lord.Love you Eli.
10/02/2025

42 Hours old wasn’t long enough but I have comfort that you are with the Lord.
Love you Eli.

10/01/2025

October is Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness Month-- a month to share with our community, our friends, our loved ones, our world, the significant impact loving and losing a baby has on our hearts, our lives, and our families.

We start this month by remembering together our babies gone too soon: those born sleeping, those we carried but never met, those we held but could not take home, those we took home but could not keep.

They are forever in our hearts.

Sent a Lantern to heaven.
09/30/2025

Sent a Lantern to heaven.

Happy Heavenly Birthday Son !!We Love You!!
09/30/2025

Happy Heavenly Birthday Son !!
We Love You!!

09/04/2025
Decorating graves today.Hard to believe Eli would be 15 at the end of this month. Seems like so long ago and yesterday...
09/01/2025

Decorating graves today.
Hard to believe Eli would be 15 at the end of this month. Seems like so long ago and yesterday all at the same time. Love You!!

08/31/2025

National Grief Awareness Day

Grief isn’t just something you “get over.”
It isn’t neat, or tidy, or bound by time.

It shows up in waves—sometimes soft, sometimes so strong it knocks you down.
It lingers in empty rooms, in the silence after the phone doesn’t ring, in the moments you wish you could share but can’t.

Grief changes you.

Today, on National Grief Awareness Day, I want to remind you:
If you’re grieving, you are not alone.
Your love, your pain, your story matters.

And if you’re not grieving, look around—someone you know is carrying a weight you can’t see. Offer them gentleness, patience, and space.

Because the truth is, grief never really leaves—
and neither do the people we love.

Address

Columbia, MO

Telephone

5733569599

Website

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