“He’s Not Just Surviving, He’s Having a Go”

This six-year-old has a complicated medical history and a Chris Stapleton obsession. Learn how Noah went from just getting by to living it up in our Full Picture story with the Stephensons.

Country music’s biggest fan lives in Crookwell. The small town in the Southern Tablelands of NSW, Australia, is home to about 3000 people. One of them is Noah Stephenson, who loves the storytelling twang of Luke Combs, Lainey Wilson and his absolute favourite, Chris Stapleton.

Heartland tunes fill the home of six-year-old Noah, which he shares with Mum and Dad, Ali and Adam, older sister Harriet and younger sister Mabel. Beyond this soundtrack, Noah’s life has many notes of country, too. Born into a family of generational farmers, he can be found wheeling through a paddock, riding on a quad bike or bottle-feeding a calf with his sisters.

Noah does all of this and more in Full Picture, a video series by The Blend made in partnership with Abbott Australia. Spending a day with four Aussie families, this series shows how feeding tubes and nutritional products support a full and fun life.  

Watch Noah and the Stephensons’ story below.

“Noah loves playing with other kids. Playing with his siblings, playing with other kids at school,” says Noah’s dad, Adam.

“And cuddles,” adds Mum, Ali.

Noah knows what he likes – and he also knows what he doesn’t. At two years of age, he made the firm decision that he wasn’t going to do any more drinking.

“He was breastfed, bottle-fed afterwards, and then one day, he decided he was done. He hasn’t drunk since,” says Ali. 

Crookwell has a cold climate, so he got away with hydrating through high-fluid-content foods, like yoghurt, for a few years. But then he started struggling to gain weight.

At age five, Noah had a low-profile gastrostomy (G) tube inserted – a feeding device that his parents welcomed. 

“Noah’s got quite a complicated medical history,” says Ali, who shares that her son – whose conditions include Down syndrome and Hirschsprung disease – had already undergone about 10 surgeries.

“He had a colostomy bag placed at six months old. Before that, he had a VP [ventriculoperitoneal] shunt placed in his brain at five months old. So early on, we were thrown into the life of a medically-extra-fun family. And in the grand scheme, if we could do this and it made things easier for him, then we’re all for it.” 

While Noah and his family worked on getting calories into him orally, Noah’s dietitian suggested they try kids’ nutritional supplement, PediaSure*, through his G-tube too.

“For morning tea and afternoon tea, we have PediaSure*,” says Ali. “That’s definitely helping with the weight gain.”

“He’s gotten much stronger,” says Adam. “It’s helping him take that next leap in life.”

As Noah enjoys his first year of primary school, Ali and Adam have noticed his newfound energy.

“In first term, before we upped his PediaSure*, he was falling asleep at school or falling asleep as soon as he got home. Now he’s got a lot more stamina,” says Adam.

“Developmentally he has improved a lot – we’re definitely seeing improvements in his physiotherapy, OT [occupational therapy] and speech,” adds Ali. “He’s got more time to learn things, instead of just trying to survive. He’s not just doing what he needs to be here – he’s having a go.”

Back at home, Noah likes to relax in front of the television, watching country music videos with a soft toy in hand while he has his tube-fed meals.

“Most of the time, he lays down and then we just get straight into it,” says Ali. “We try to stick to a schedule, but we’re not gonna be too mad if it’s an hour early or an hour late because it works a bit better with the day.”

Often, Noah’s snacks attract the company of a certain two-year-old sibling. 

“Mabel loves helping,” Ali laughs. “She likes to help push the syringe down – she thinks she's doing a great job. We’ll say, ‘it’s time for PediaSure*, Noah!’ and his little sister will come running.”

“He loves his sisters,” says Adam. “He wants to be as close to them as possible – at all times!”

Watch Noah and the Stephensons’ story here.


Full Picture is a video series by The Blend made in partnership with Abbott Australia.

*Food for Special Medical Purposes. Use under medical supervision.