MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Whether he’s playing with his brother Christian and his sister Arrianna in the park, you have to be pretty fast and have a lot of energy to keep up with 3-year-old Cameron Jones.

“He likes to act silly, laugh, play and all that. He is good, a normal 3-year-old. Running, playing, and eating everything, nothing too much gets him down,” his mom, Tomeka Jones, said.

It takes a lot to keep this happy little guy down, considering his health has had its share of ups and downs, even before his birth.

Tomeka will never forget what happened during her pregnancy with Cameron.

“My blood pressure started dropping and his heart rated started to drop each time I had a contraction,” she said.

When Cameron was born at his delivery hospital, he was limp, blue, and unresponsive.

“I was like, Oh Dear God, don’t let him be dead.  I finally heard him cry. I was okay. He’s crying. He’s alive,” Tomeka said.

Cameron was taken to the NICU and was monitored for eight hours before things started to settle down.

But right before the family was about to be discharged, Cameron’s mom, who’s also a respiratory therapist, noticed he didn’t want to eat and when she removed his bottle, his lips were blue.

“I looked at his nose and he was like nasal flaring trying to breathe and I remember that was a sign of respiratory distress,” Tomeka said.

Cameron was monitored closely for two days, but one night, his mom received a phone call from his doctor that she’ll never forget.

“When I heard his voice, I knew something, I said don’t let him be gone, and that’s when they told me they needed my consent to transfer him to Le Bonheur,” Tomeka said.

His family agreed his best chances of survival would be at Le Bonheur and through their faith in God.

“Don’t let him die because I have already buried one child and I can’t do it again,” Tomeka said.

Pedi-Flight would take Cameron to Le Bonheur. He was then placed on a heart bypass machine called an ECMO.

Dr. Stephanie Storgion is pediatric intensivist at Le Bonheur.

“It was a life and death situation for Cameron. We were able to bring him over from the initial hospital where he was born and rapidly get him on the ECMO support that he needed it because he wasn’t able to supply significant oxygen to the rest of his body,” Storgion said.

Cameron stayed on ECOM for 33 days, but he faced other problems.

“His liver malfunctioned, his kidneys stopped working,” Tomeka said.

His neurologists also found what they thought were brain tumors, but it only turned out blood on his brain and was removed.

But Cameron’s mom said things really turned around when he was given a drug called Seldinifil.

“His nurse, they had drawn labs, they had drawn his blood work and she was like he’s fine,” Tomeka said.

The drug worked, and for the first time, blood was pumping through his body on his own.

“He’s definitely my miracle child because we were at the end. he was a death’s door and he’s still here,” Tomeka said.

Cameron is still here and enjoying life thanks to the hope and specialized care he received at Le Bonheur, a hospital where every child matters.

“I’m very grateful to the ECMO specialists and that the hospital is there,” Tomeka said.