Way’s Story

Waylon McCoy was only 6 weeks old when he was abused by someone he should have trusted. He came very close to dying.

Waylon’s doctors installed a breathing tube and a feeding tube, and he was medically sedated because the damage from the assault (resulting in numerous strokes) was causing such intense epileptic seizures and pain.

As a mother, the pain of watching my newborn baby suffer and the feeling of helplessness to make his pain go away was unimaginably painful. But I focused on practicing constant love and positivity, and I committed to bringing joy into his room whenever I could.

I had to believe that through bringing light into his hospital room, we would drive out the dark.
I realized early on in that harrowing time in the hospital that we could either choose a hate-filled path, or a loving one, filled with joy and living in the moment.
We chose the latter.
We call it the Loving Way.

Of course it’s not joy and light all the time.
Waylon suffers from cerebral palsy and epilepsy, and he is blind due to cortical vision impairment. Eating and drinking are challenging for him, and he has major developmental and cognitive delays. At 3 years old, Way cannot sit, stand, walk or crawl.
He can’t talk, so he’s unable to tell me when he’s in pain.

There are many difficult days.
Days that leave me asking “Why him? Why my son? Why was he hurt this way?”
The answer never comes and I’m fully prepared that it never will.
So I place my focus instead on Waylon receiving the justice he deserves, and to sharing more of our story and helping others on an even deeper, more personal level.

I tell Waylon all the time that this never should have happened to him.
I also tell him that out of this horror and pain comes great purpose, and that we will have the honor of helping so many with our story.
And together our hope is that through Loving Way we will help dissolve barriers and stigmas to show the world that child abuse can happen any time… in any home… in any income bracket… in any racial group.
Child abuse does NOT discriminate.

Loving Way’s mission is to advocate, increase awareness and bring joy—some “little happies” as we call them—into the lives of our fellow child abuse survivors and their families. Through programs based on our own experience, we will help others live the loving way and stay in the light even when the world can feel so dark. We’re here to bring the light their way whenever – and however – we can. We are so grateful to share both our positivity and our experience with our fellow travelers on this journey.

About Dawn McCoy, Loving Way Founder

Dawn McCoy is a tv host, actor, writer and heads her namesake media company.
The mother of a child abuse/traumatic brain injury survivor, she is the founder of Loving Way – a child abuse prevention and awareness organization – named in honor of her son, Waylon.

Dawn also proudly serves on the board of Holton’s Heroes, an organization that supports pediatric traumatic brain injury survivors and their families.
In 2015, she started the Dear 15 Me movement to instill confidence in teens and improve communication between adults and teens.

And throughout her life, she has partnered with over a dozen nonprofits – including No Kid Hungry, Step Up Women’s Network, Holton’s Heroes, Foster Love, Dress For Success, Max Love Project, the James Beard Foundation, Bryan’s House, Adopt Together, UNICEF, Easter Seals, Goodwill & more – to either serve on the board, emcee, auctioneer, raise money, host toy drives, mentor, volunteer, donate items needed, increase awareness through my platforms, chair fundraisers, secure sponsors — or sometimes do a little of it all.

Loving Way brings all of Dawn’s experience and community full-circle.