Josiah Howard

Josiah Howard was born to his proud mother, Mekeisha, on October 14, 2009. Josiah was the perfect addition to the family, joining his big brother, Malachai, and making Mekeisha a total boy mom. He was always a healthy, high-energy kid with a smile that lights up every room. Josiah is a sports fanatic and proudly plays football on his high school team. He loves watching his favorite college team, the Texas Longhorns, play.

When he is not playing or watching football, he loves to spend time at the arcade and playing video games on his PC. He is blessed with a close knit family including his mom, dad, and brother plus lots of extended family members including grandparents, aunts and uncles.

Diagnosis

Prior to his DIPG diagnosis, Josiah was experiencing significant headaches for several weeks and lost consciousness at school one afternoon. Just a few weeks before his 15th birthday, on September 27, 2024, Josiah was diagnosed with Diffuse Midline Glioma (DMG) at Medical City Dallas. The news was absolutely devastating to his mom and she immediately began researching treatment options for her son. Almost immediately, they left home in Texas and headed to Memphis to begin radiation and a clinical trial at St. Jude.

Being so far away from home and their support system was exhausting and lonely, but Mekeisha was determined to find any avenue of hope she could for her son. On December 18th, Josiah rang the bell at St. Jude to celebrate completing radiation and he and his mom headed back home to Texas to reunite with their family. Their immediate plan is to continue treatment at UT Southwestern in Dallas and pray that Josiah continues to see the residual effects of his radiation treatment as he works to regain functionality and get back to living his best life. The Howard family has an incredible faith and believe profoundly in God's plan for Josiah.

Josiah is a fighter and the Archer Foundation is proud to support this precious family as they battle for more good days.