As many of you already know, my grandson Jayden was in a very serious off-road accident on Friday, the morning after Thanksgiving. First and foremost, our family wants to thank you for all of the thoughts and prayers. The outpouring of love and support has been incredible! Thank you! 

At this time, Jayden is still in the pediatric intensive care at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. He was thrown from the ATV, and it landed on top of him. His right hand was severely damaged and will require several surgeries over the next year. He is being very strong,  right along with his mom Kimberly and his brother, who are both his rocks right now. Please keep praying for them. 

Here is the recap of the accident: When they made the first run in the morning, Jayden’s dad Vinny was driving and saw a bush. He went to go around it, but they hit it and started to roll end over end. When they stopped rolling, the ATV was on top of Jayden’s leg. Vinny was yelling for help since he couldn’t lift it off of Jayden himself. At that time, he noticed the trauma to Jayden’s hand as well. There were two couples who had just shown up 15 minutes before. The husband was taking a picture showing where they were going to be. As he was doing this, he saw the dirt from the crash, so they new something was wrong and immediately ran to provide assistance. 

His wife (Eva) is a trauma nurse, so she grabbed her bag, and they both ran over to help. They got the ATV off of him, and she went to work on Jayden. She looked at Vinny and asked him if he was ready for this. She took her husband’s belt off and used it for a tourniquet to stop blood loss. She flushed his hand to clean it and wrapped it. Another couple that was also helping tried to call 911, but they didn’t get reception. One lady there was able to get reception and called 911. 

The ambulance showed up first, and they called for the helicopter. He was flown to Moreno Valley Hospital, but all they could do there was stabilize him. The hospital reached out to every hospital by sending pictures of his injuries to see who could take him. Several weren’t staffed (or willing) to treat his injuries, but Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles said yes. He was then flown to Los Angeles. 

When they arrived, he was met by their trauma team of about 40 people. They went right to work getting him prepared for surgery. We saw about 20 separate doctors, nurses, and anesthesiologists before they took him back. They started surgery about 7:30. About 2-1/2 hours later, they came out and said they were trying to save at least one finger. The initial surgery ended up taking 7 hours that night. The surgeon also said this is going to be a marathon and not a sprint. They are not sure if the finger will take, but we should know in a couple of weeks.

We are day to day right now. Jayden is awake and alert and doing very well (all things considered). The road to recovery for him will be a long one, and his life will never be the same. Our poor boy will have to relearn many things that we take for granted. Any help you can offer will help him and his mom conquer this insurmountable mountain they have begun to climb. The costs that they will have to deal with are going to be staggering, which include the dozens of surgeries, therapy, prosthesis, eand everything else they will have to face as a result of this unfortunate accident. 

Jayden said he doesn’t care what color they are, but he wants his fingers back. All we can hope for is a miracle to answer his wishes. He is also aware that he doesn’t have them all right now. The doctor also said next week they are going to look into other options if the finger does not take. If it wouldn’t have been for Eva and her group, we would not have the hope for him or his hand, and it could have been much worse since he was losing a lot of blood.

I want to add that anyone going out to the desert to ride ATVs, please do not put a child in a compromising situation by putting them in a 4-point adult harness and adult seat. They need to be in a 5-point harness that is made for children. This is what happens when you don’t take those precautions.