NOWATA, Okla. – A one-week-old baby's Russell Westbrook Halloween costume is serving as a sign of hope for one South Dakota-rooted family.

Noah Joseph Tolsma was born on Oct. 23 at 23 weeks gestation. He weighed just under 15 ounces.

He'll be in a neonatal intensive care unit for a long time, said his mother Stacey Tolsma, who is originally from Salem. She recently moved to Oklahoma from Wessington Springs.

Tolsma agreed to let Noah participate in a Halloween photo board created by NICU nurses at an Oklahoma hospital.

Noah's main doctor is a big Oklahoma City Thunder fan, and Noah was selected to be the Russell Westbrook of the NICU. Westbrook is a star guard for the Thunder and the NBA's reigning MVP.

Tolsma posted to Facebook a photo of Noah in a Thunder jersey next to a photo of Westbrook, asking for a little help in getting a visit from the six-time All-Star. The post has since gone viral, with more than 2,000 shares and 3,100 likes since Sunday evening.

"The reaction is huge," Tolsma said Tuesday. "I didn’t intentionally mean for this to go viral. I’ve been pretty surprised. The nurses in the NICU are just so excited."

The post explains how the Tolsma family agreed to put Noah on the NICU's Halloween board and why Westbrook was part of the costume lineup. Tolsma shares that her husband, Avon native Dustin Tolsma, "secretly wants to be Russell Westbrook," so the costume worked perfectly.

"I had to smile because that just told me this nurse, who has worked in the NICU for decades, believes in Noah too," Tolsma wrote in her post. "She would have never asked if she didn't."

Then, she somewhat jokingly asked her Facebook community to make the post viral so Westbrook would come visit Noah. When the post gained traction, she learned Westbrook has a son, also named Noah.

"(Noah is) doing really well," Tolsma said of her third child. "He didn’t have a whole lot of things in his favor. He is defying a lot of odds."

The community has been extremely supportive, she said, both in Oklahoma and back in South Dakota.

"It’s not easy, but we’re remaining optimistic and praying unceasingly," she said. "Our prayers are working. He really is a miracle baby. Every day with him is a gift."

A YouCaring page has been created to help the Tolsma family pay for medical expenses.