William Joe Lopez Sotomayor

William was diagnosed with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH) when his mommy was 18 weeks pregnant with him. After 26 hours of labor, William was born January 25, 2023, at 2am in Orlando, FL. He was born with no diaphragm, with his stomach, intestines, spleen, and a portion of his liver in his chest, pushing his heart and lungs to the right side of his chest. William had his diaphragm repair surgery at 3 days old and he was on ECMO for 27 days, resulting in 3 surgeries in his short time on Earth. In the evening of February 26th, his health started to decline. At 1:15am on February 27, 2023, on his Papa’s birthday, William took his last breath in his daddy’s arms. He passed away at 33 days old due to complications with CDH paired with pneumonia. He spent his 33 days of life in the NICU at Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies.

“Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart”. This Winnie the Pooh quote couldn’t be truer for William with his family. They will always remember the 33 days of fighting he did on Earth, and those that come after him will know him as the warrior he was, and they will know the story of his short life!

William is survived by the 3 people who knew him in life. His mommy (Savannah), his daddy (Jeremy), and his Oma (Rosary). William is also survived by his Papa (Joseph), his grandma and grandpa (Judith and Dennis), his 6 aunts (Amy, Sabrina, Angelica, J’Shon, Tamara, Cheyenne), 2 tias (Laura, Jeanine), 2 titis (Sara, Emily), 5 uncles (Justin, Dennis Jr, Robert, Samuel, Joshua), his tio (Jael), 11 cousins (Kevin, Alyssia, Aiden, Bella, Aubree, Bradley, Peyton, Camden, Cameron, Chloe, Tyson), and the rest of his extended family.

William will always be remembered as his mommy’s handsome boy, his daddy’s little warrior, his Oma’s little Prince, his Papa’s little buddy, and the strongest person his family has ever known!