This is my 28 year old, Brother in law Joshua Middlebrooks. My sister is needing assistance with the burial for her husband. Before I go further into details this is a little about him. Joshua was a hard working employee at Western State hospital as a supervisor in security. He was a loving husband to my sister for the past 7 years and he has made an immeasurable impact. Joshua is also a loving father of 2 (7 years old Demearious and my unborn nephew that unfortunately will not have the chance to meet his amazing dad) Joshua was a son, a brother, a nephew and uncle, and friend to many. Joshua loved working with cars and there was never a dull movement with him around.
In November of 2024, Joshua had a small stroke that was caught late but, he was able to snap back. Unfortunately, on February 21st he was rushed back to the hospital due to complications from that stroke and required a feeding tube. With this procedure there was a mistake made and he had to go back a few days later to get the issue resolved which left him with 2 tubes. Josh was in the ICU for a month and then transferred to a long term unit in Madisonville to continue medical care. Josh was slowly improving so we moved him to GA (his home state) for further rehab where Josh did everything asked of him and was finally coming back to himself. Josh was well enough to be discharged on May 27, 2025 and was able to finally go home after 4 long months being hospitalized.
On May 28, 2025, Josh had dialysis and when returning home an unusual color in his drain appeared. Josh was then sent back to the hosptial May 29, 2025 and admitted. The tests showed nothing but, they wanted to be sure. Sadly, during the early morning hours of May 30, 2025, Josh vomited and aspirated (the vomit got into his lungs), which led to him coding. His heart stopped for 10 minutes and they were able to revive him and he was placed on life support. Josh is no longer responsive and the critical care team is saying that he can possibly be brain dead, due to the lack of oxygen, or even forever stuck in a vegetative state. There is only a 1% chance of him being saved.
In this extremely hard, time my sister has made the scariest, most heart breaking decision to compassionately remove him from life support and let him transition on his own. With my sister not working due to needing to present and at beside with Josh, she’s needing assistance with having a home going service to celebrate his life.
That being said, thank you all for taking the time to read our story and if anyone would like to donate, it will be profoundly appreciated. Any amount helps and for those that are unable to donate, prayers are always welcomed as my sister and Josh’s family traverse this very difficult time. Thank you all in advance.