How Jason Simpson’s Family Became Part of the Special Needs Community

We all know Jason Simpson as the Chief Meteorologist at WVTM NBC 13 in Birmingham. But a series of events has led him to be a big part of the special needs community here, as well, when his youngest child was born some 8 years ago.

Jason and his wife Lacey married in 2010 and have 4 children: Walt, age 12, Shelby age 10, and Brody, age 8. Simpson recalls that his wife’s pregnancy with Brody seemed the same as times before, but he did decide “to come early.” They were still living in Hunstville at the time, and Brody was born in May 2015 at Huntsville Hospital for Women and Children, then immediately taken to the Regional NICU where he was diagnosed with several immediately visible problems. “But the hidden problem was his heart,” Simpson explains. “Brody represents one in 100 kids born in the U.S. every year with congenital heart disease.”

“Brody flew with the Critical Care Transport Team to Children’s of Alabama on Mother’s Day 2015, and he had his first open heart surgery at 13 days old,” Simpson says.

“Brody’s life has been touched by almost every unit at Children’s of Alabama and by several departments at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio,” Simpson says. “He has had 14 major surgeries in his 8 years, and he is doing very well.”

The Simpsons credit Children’s of Alabama with saving Brody’s life, and the Simpson family, along with 3 other heart families from North Alabama, now host a fishing tournament in Scottsboro each year at Goosepoint Colony called “Castin’ ’N Catchin’ for CHD” to raise money for the Pediatric and Congenital Heart Center of Alabama at Children’s of Alabama. To date, Simpson says they have raised $1.1 million for the Center.

To say Brody’s birth and special needs profoundly changed the Simpson family is an understatement. “Change happens in many ways, but I think the greatest change he brought our family life is forcing us to look to Jesus for the solutions instead of trying to fight it all on our own,” Simpson explains. “Through everything we have faced, He has been with us, faith has increased and we know we are taken care of.”

Simpson is WHNT – NBC 13 News Birmingham’s Chief Meteorologist. He has been with the station since 2012, working his way up through the ranks. He was awarded the American Meteorological Society’s Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal for excellence in television weather in 2007. He has worked alongside longtime Chief Meteorologist James Spann from 2004 to 2011. He is a graduate of Mississippi State University at the top of his class in 2001.

He has been awarded Associated Press Best Weathercaster in Alabama and nominated for five Emmys, winning an Emmy in 2013. He is a big education advocate and helped build a curriculum for elementary and middle school science classes the the “ABC’s Of Weather” series that he produced for the Alabama Math and Science Technology Initiative. He does numerous school visits and homeschool class visits throughout the year.

The next Catchin’ ’N Castin event is on April 20, 2024. Learn more at http://www.castinncatchin.org

Carol Muse Evans is the publisher and editor of Birmingham Parent.