Family of ‘Bou Bou’ looks to community for medical expense help

More than $80,000 of medical expenses incurred since tot injured in May

JANESVILLE, Wis. — It’s been three months of hospital appointments and surgeries for a Janesville family and their son Bou Bou, as they continue down the long road to recovery.

“It’s a day to day struggle, that we take one day at a time,” Bou Bou’s mother Alecia Phonesavanh said.

The Phonesavanh family is looking at ways to pay for the more than $80,000 of medical expenses already accumulated in the last couple of months, as more expenses continue to pile up.

“He is looking at facial and chest plastic reconstruction surgery skin grafts every couple of years for a very long portion of his life until he stops developing,” Phonesavanh said.

Phonesavanh’s son is still recovering after being severely injured on May 28 by a flash grenade that exploded in the then 19-month-old baby Bou Bou’s playpen. The incident happened when a swat team executed a no-knock search warrant at the wrong house in Georgia.

“The Habersham County people responsible for injuring baby Bou Bou have declined to pay any money at all,” Phonesavanh family Attorney Mawuli Mel Davis said. “Dad is injured from his contact with law enforcement. This is a tough ,tough time for this family.”

The family turned to the community for support through fundraisers, which Alecia, mother of four, said helps lift a small weight off her shoulders.

“(It gives me) a sense of hope that I know I’m not alone in this fight. My family and I have a chance to be OK, and it’s uplifting,” she said.

The Phonesavanh family still has a long way to go but Alecia said she’s still counting her blessings.

“He is a very strong fighter, he’s a survivor,” she said. “He’s not even 2 years old. I’m very blessed that I can sit here and hold him.”

The attorney for the family said they are waiting for the Habersham district attorney’s office to decide if it will be charging any officers in the explosion. Once they receive records from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation office, the family is planning on filing a civil lawsuit.

Family members are relying on donations to continue paying medical fees and living expenses.

To donate to the family: http://justiceforbabyboubou.com.