Fisher’s hosts Oct. 1 Saints’ brunch w. ESPY winner JJ Robertson

Fisher’s hosts Oct. 1 Saints’ brunch w. ESPY winner JJ Robertson
Proceeds go to remarkable child’s It Takes Lives to Save Lives charity

Fisher’s Restaurant in Orange Beach will host a New Orleans Saint Brunch featuring Jarrius “JJ’’ Robertson, on Sunday, Oct 1. The Saints and Miami Dolphins kick off in London at 8:30 a.m. Fisher’s is located on Marina Rd. at Orange Beach Marina.
Robertson recently won The Jimmy V Perseverance Award at the ESPYs, and the brunch will benefit his charity, It Takes Lives to Save Lives (ittakeslivestosavelives.com), a charity established by Robertson’s family to help other children suffering from biliary atresia, a life-threatening disease of the liver and bile ducts.
JJ will also speak at a Gulf Shores High School pep rally on Sept. 29 and host a meet-n-greet at halftime of the Gulf Shores High football game vs. Faith Academy later that evening at Mickey Blackwell Stadium. JJ will be the honorary captain for the game.
A remarkable blend of medical challenges and magnetic charm, JJ is usually dressed in black and gold. That’s what happens when you’re a small boy with a big personality, you’re in need of an organ donor to save your life, and the New Orleans Saints have basically adopted you and transformed you into a media star.
Several weeks into his life, JJ was diagnosed with biliary atresia, a life-threatening disease of the liver and bile ducts.
There were many ups and downs, including multiple surgeries, during the initial stages of his life. Then things got really bad. JJ’s parents, Jordy Robertson and Patricia Hoyal, could only watch and pray as he was listed for a life-saving transplant and eventually got a new liver soon after his first birthday.
There were more complications. JJ caught pneumonia. His lungs collapsed. He was placed on a respirator. And his breathing issues were only part of his struggles. Doctors at Children’s Hospital of New Orleans eventually had to induce a coma – and JJ remained unconscious for close to a year.
“Five, six times we were told he wasn’t going to make it,” JJ’s mom recalled last week. “Then they told us for the seventh time. He was still on the respirator.”
“We didn’t want to see him suffer no more,” JJ’s dad said. “So we finally signed the papers to let him go … papers to remove the respirator and let him go.”
The respirator was taken away. But JJ was not ready to stop fighting. He started to breathe on his own. Doctors couldn’t really offer much of an explanation.
“It was a miracle – nothing but God,” said his mom.