Please read Natalie’s story!
Donation protected
Trigger warning-
The events you’re about to read may be hard to get through. My 3 year old daughter suffered a traumatic brain injury due to being dropped on her head at daycare. Prayers are appreciated even if you cannot read the following!! Thank you.
On June 8th, 2023 I dropped my daughters Natalie and Eloise off at daycare in Ponca City, so that I could go to work. There was nothing out of place, it was a normal Thursday morning, I was even on time. I went to my first two clients houses in Ponca City, but I took longer at my second clients house, causing me to run a little behind on time. I decided to stop for lunch before going to my 1:00 appointment in Tonkawa, that I was running behind getting to. It was 1:30 when I called my client again to ask her if she’d like anything for lunch, and to let her know I’d be on my way shortly.
At 1:39PM I got a phone call from the daycare letting me know that my daughters appeared sick. Eloise had an upset tummy, and Natalie was throwing up. At that time, she also informed me that Natalie had a second altercation with one of the children at daycare, and that that child would no longer be an issue because she has suspended him from her daycare.
——Note: The other child involved is an almost 9 year old boy, Natalie is 3. This child has been known to be aggressive and hurt Natalie once before, and the appropriate steps were taken at that time.——
I remember thinking to myself, “I guess I was meant to be late today, so that I could still be in town to pick up my kids”. God knew better than I ever would have, that I needed to be running behind that Thursday afternoon. I told our babysitter that I’d be right there, because I had not left town yet. Upon picking up my daughter, our babysitter informed me that the other child had tripped Natalie in the fenced in backyard play area, but she hadn’t physically seen what had happened because she ran in the house really fast to grab my other baby, Eloise (7months old). Natalie was nauseous and complaining of a headache. I asked our babysitter if Natalie had hit her head when the other child tripped her, and she told me that when she came back out from picking up Eloise, Natalie was sitting on her bottom crying, and the other child was laying on the ground next to her, but it didn’t appear at that time like Natalie had hit her head.
Before leaving the daycare, I noticed a bruising pattern on my daughters right cheek bone, but at the time it was unclear what caused it. The other child told the childcare provider that they had tripped, but the childcare provider knew better. The other child had laid on the ground next to Natalie to make himself appear innocent in the situation. To make it appear that they had harmlessly just fallen together. Unfortunately for this child, his story did not hold together, because the other children had witnessed what he did and were later able to relay the entire situation to the authorities.
During the drive home, Natalie complained of a headache, puked in my backseat, and was extremely irritable. With the bruise on her cheek and all of the other symptoms, I knew she must have hit her face/head on something, and I decided to take her to the closest hospital, which was the Stillwater Medical Hospital in Blackwell, Oklahoma. I wanted to have her looked at, because her symptoms were consistent with a concussion. I told my husband, Russell, that we’d be at the hospital so he could come help with our girls, and we could both be there for whatever was coming next. While at the hospital, I noticed hiding beneath her hair, a very large red/purple injury on her scalp. The pediatrician asked Natalie what happened to her and she said the other child, “picked her up, and threw her on the ground.” (We have since learned from the reports of the other children, and from Natalie, that he picked her up, and slammed her head first on the concrete, and then spit on her.)
They offered a CT scan. The nurse said it would probably be nothing, but that we could do a CT if we wanted to just to make sure everything was okay. We had the option to get a CT or just go home, due to subjecting Natalie to the radiation, which they typically don’t like to do with little kids. We opted to have the CT done, because our daughter was obviously not okay. While waiting to go back for her CT Natalie puked again. They took her back to CT and placed us back in triage afterwards. Minutes later, our worst nightmare would become a reality.
The pediatrician and nurses came back to where we were waiting to inform us that our 3 year old baby has a fractured skull and a brain bleed, and that she would need to be lifeflighted to OU Children’s Hospital in Oklahoma City. They said the helicopter would come to pick her up in about 30 minutes, and that they needed to get an IV in her while we waited so that they could start her on anti-seizure medications. Natalie would then be stuck 8 total times, blowing 7 of her tiny little veins, just trying to start the line on her. They could not fly her out without it. We had a whole team of doctors and nurses helping my husband to hold her down, while trying desperately to get a successful IV. On the last stick, when they finally landed her IV that would carry her through, they were preparing to drill into her leg bone, drill out the marrow, and place what’s called an “IO” line on her. I begged, pleaded, and sobbed to them. “Please don’t put her through that. Please don’t do this to my baby!” A nurse grabbed me, and hugged me tight. I believe her name was Katherine. There was so much going on, I’m really not sure. But, for sake of argument, Katherine hugged me, and helped me come back down to earth. She told me I would scare my daughter, and to be strong. I felt like the furthest thing from strong. My heart was absolutely breaking. Everyone in the room. Everyone’s heart was absolutely breaking.
Finally, they successfully got a line on her, and were able to start the anti-seizure medications, and get her on the chopper to OU Children’s. Neither myself or my husband could ride on the helicopter with her. We drove the more than an hour drive down, which felt like a lifetime. When we arrived, Natalie was in the ER in curtain 8. Before we had arrived they had performed another CT scan, started x rays, and stabilized Natalie’s c spine. They drew labs, gave Natalie Tylenol and were keeping a very close eye on her.
It wasn’t long before the neurosurgeon came down and pulled me from the room. He explained that Natalie has a traumatic brain injury, and that with the location of her injury, that their biggest concerns at that time was the loss of motor function to the left side of her body, seizures, or even death. He told me that Natalie had a significant hematoma and they had to get it out. They would need to make a large incision in Natalie’s skull to remove the hematoma all at once. He explained that they would try to push the surgery until morning, but if Natalie showed any changes, that she would need to go under the same night.
I signed the forms giving them permission to cut my daughters skull open, that I understood they would revive her if she died on the table, and that she could have blood if she needed it. The pit in my stomach grew so large, I felt like I couldn’t breathe as this was all explained to me. Many times I felt like I would throw up, or pass out. I went back into the room, pulled Russell aside, and explained to him, what had just been explained to me, but there’s nothing that can prepare you for these things. Nothing. I couldn’t believe the words coming out of my own mouth. Russell immediately asked to speak with the neurosurgeon, but we had to wait for him to come back.
Natalie became extremely frustrated, aggravated, and aggressive. She started kicking, yelling, screaming, and fighting because she didn’t like her neck brace, she wanted to get up, she wanted to go home. She told us not to speak to her, or look at her, or touch her, but we had to keep her still. It was so important that she keep still. Again, we had to hold our baby down while she screamed and fought because she couldn’t possibly understand what was happening to her. She was scared, confused, and distressed.
Neuro came back down to explain everything to my husband before they took Natalie up to the pediatric intensive care unit or PICU on the 6th floor. There, they monitored her, and came in to do neuro checks every hour. This meant making sure Natalie still had her motor functions, checking her eyes to make sure they were still reactive, asking her questions, taking her blood pressure, things like that.
We stayed up all night watching her to make sure she was okay. Around 2:00AM on now June 9th, 2023, I turned on praise and worship music, I sat with my bible at the foot of Natalie’s bed, watching her sleep. I couldn’t stop crying if my life depended on it. Seeing my baby hooked up to all of the machines, neck brace on, unable to move, her eyes puffy from trauma and tears. I took that time to memorize every feature of my beautiful baby’s face, like I hadn’t seen it before. I laid my head down on her, and I begged god out loud to please save my baby. I begged god, “please let my baby get through this. Let them find a miracle in the morning. Let her brain be healed so that she doesn’t have to go through this. I know you can heal my baby. Please!!” I prayed the blood of Jesus over her. I asked my god to move in a miraculous way. I knew he had her. I knew in my heart god was going to heal my baby.
I woke Russell, and asked him sit with her around 4:00AM, and I went to sleep until rounds at 6:30AM when a nurse came in to tell us surgery would probably take place at 2:00PM that afternoon. She then drew Natalie’s blood to match her for surgery in case she needed blood on the operating table. I still woke up every time my phone chimed, or she made a peep, but I felt like I had slept for days. Shortly after the nurse came in, a woman from Natalie’s neuro team came in to ask us what we knew, and answer any questions we might have, because Natalie was soon to be prepped for surgery. I asked her if there was any possibility for another CT scan because I needed to know without a shadow of a doubt that this surgery was necessary. She told me that surgery is not something they take lightly. That once surgery has been decided that that’s it. It needs to happen. She said, “we never go in and unbook an OR. Especially not with a bleed as significant as your daughters. Once it’s decided, it’s pretty much decided.” But we pushed for her to ask for another CT anyways, and she agreed. An hour or so later, a team of doctors and nurses formed a circle in the hall outside of Natalie’s room, and discussed all of their options. They weighed the pros and cons and tried to determine based on how Natalie was doing if the surgery was in fact absolutely 100% necessary. They came into the room and talked with Natalie, observed how she was doing, ran through their various tests. They told Russell and I, that Natalie was very much not out of the woods, but that Natalie’s scans revealed that her hematoma had started to “dissolve” already. This normally takes days, weeks, even months to happen. Natalie’s started dissolving within only 6 hours between scans. It’s safe to say, this is pretty unheard of.
We’re so thankful to all of her doctors, nurses, and our family, but most importantly we are so thankful to our Heavenly Father. Thank you God for putting your healing hands on my baby!!!
They decided to hold off on surgery, and see what would happen. The next morning on June 10th, 2023 Natalie woke up complaining of a headache, and she threw up. At this time, it created concern because it could have meant Natalie had a rebleed and her brain was in danger. They decided to monitor her closely, putting her back on hourly neuro checks. Throughout the day, Natalie developed new symptoms. She was distressed, combative, and aggravated. She also became even more unsteady on her feet, and at one point, even went potty on herself, and was completely unaware it was happening.
Fortunately, there had been no new changes on her CT, and her hematoma was stable. The next time neuro came in, they told us that all of this was normal, and that both children and adults tend to regress in these ways with traumatic brain injuries. They continued to monitor Natalie through the night, and decided to release her today, June 11th, 2023.
Natalie will have to go back in a week for another CT scan, and have regular appointments with the neurologist over 100 miles away for at least the next three months. Right now, Natalie will not be able to do any activities that other kids get to do. No running, jumping, climbing, bouncing. Even laying down with an attitude could land her back in the hospital. Her whole summer has been ripped away from her, and we will not know of any lasting affects until these first 3 months are up. At this time, they are hopeful that Natalie will make a full recovery.
We don’t know how much to ask for, but here are some examples of things we will need funds for during this time:
I will be out of work and I’m not sure for how long, and there is a chance her insurance will not cover all of her medical expenses. Natalie will need things to help her get through this recovery. She is a very active child, and not being able to play will be very hard for her. She will also need things to keep her safe while she is home like bed rails, furniture bumpers, etc., as well as things for anxiety attacks and coping mechanisms. Example, weighted blankets, weighted stuffies, etc. We also don’t know if we will need to pay for our lawyer costs up front but we would like to be prepared. If you feel in your heart to donated, we would be forever grateful to you! If not, please continue to pray and share this with your friends and family!
Thank you for reading, sharing, praying, and helping to support us through this hard time.
The events you’re about to read may be hard to get through. My 3 year old daughter suffered a traumatic brain injury due to being dropped on her head at daycare. Prayers are appreciated even if you cannot read the following!! Thank you.
On June 8th, 2023 I dropped my daughters Natalie and Eloise off at daycare in Ponca City, so that I could go to work. There was nothing out of place, it was a normal Thursday morning, I was even on time. I went to my first two clients houses in Ponca City, but I took longer at my second clients house, causing me to run a little behind on time. I decided to stop for lunch before going to my 1:00 appointment in Tonkawa, that I was running behind getting to. It was 1:30 when I called my client again to ask her if she’d like anything for lunch, and to let her know I’d be on my way shortly.
At 1:39PM I got a phone call from the daycare letting me know that my daughters appeared sick. Eloise had an upset tummy, and Natalie was throwing up. At that time, she also informed me that Natalie had a second altercation with one of the children at daycare, and that that child would no longer be an issue because she has suspended him from her daycare.
——Note: The other child involved is an almost 9 year old boy, Natalie is 3. This child has been known to be aggressive and hurt Natalie once before, and the appropriate steps were taken at that time.——
I remember thinking to myself, “I guess I was meant to be late today, so that I could still be in town to pick up my kids”. God knew better than I ever would have, that I needed to be running behind that Thursday afternoon. I told our babysitter that I’d be right there, because I had not left town yet. Upon picking up my daughter, our babysitter informed me that the other child had tripped Natalie in the fenced in backyard play area, but she hadn’t physically seen what had happened because she ran in the house really fast to grab my other baby, Eloise (7months old). Natalie was nauseous and complaining of a headache. I asked our babysitter if Natalie had hit her head when the other child tripped her, and she told me that when she came back out from picking up Eloise, Natalie was sitting on her bottom crying, and the other child was laying on the ground next to her, but it didn’t appear at that time like Natalie had hit her head.
Before leaving the daycare, I noticed a bruising pattern on my daughters right cheek bone, but at the time it was unclear what caused it. The other child told the childcare provider that they had tripped, but the childcare provider knew better. The other child had laid on the ground next to Natalie to make himself appear innocent in the situation. To make it appear that they had harmlessly just fallen together. Unfortunately for this child, his story did not hold together, because the other children had witnessed what he did and were later able to relay the entire situation to the authorities.
During the drive home, Natalie complained of a headache, puked in my backseat, and was extremely irritable. With the bruise on her cheek and all of the other symptoms, I knew she must have hit her face/head on something, and I decided to take her to the closest hospital, which was the Stillwater Medical Hospital in Blackwell, Oklahoma. I wanted to have her looked at, because her symptoms were consistent with a concussion. I told my husband, Russell, that we’d be at the hospital so he could come help with our girls, and we could both be there for whatever was coming next. While at the hospital, I noticed hiding beneath her hair, a very large red/purple injury on her scalp. The pediatrician asked Natalie what happened to her and she said the other child, “picked her up, and threw her on the ground.” (We have since learned from the reports of the other children, and from Natalie, that he picked her up, and slammed her head first on the concrete, and then spit on her.)
They offered a CT scan. The nurse said it would probably be nothing, but that we could do a CT if we wanted to just to make sure everything was okay. We had the option to get a CT or just go home, due to subjecting Natalie to the radiation, which they typically don’t like to do with little kids. We opted to have the CT done, because our daughter was obviously not okay. While waiting to go back for her CT Natalie puked again. They took her back to CT and placed us back in triage afterwards. Minutes later, our worst nightmare would become a reality.
The pediatrician and nurses came back to where we were waiting to inform us that our 3 year old baby has a fractured skull and a brain bleed, and that she would need to be lifeflighted to OU Children’s Hospital in Oklahoma City. They said the helicopter would come to pick her up in about 30 minutes, and that they needed to get an IV in her while we waited so that they could start her on anti-seizure medications. Natalie would then be stuck 8 total times, blowing 7 of her tiny little veins, just trying to start the line on her. They could not fly her out without it. We had a whole team of doctors and nurses helping my husband to hold her down, while trying desperately to get a successful IV. On the last stick, when they finally landed her IV that would carry her through, they were preparing to drill into her leg bone, drill out the marrow, and place what’s called an “IO” line on her. I begged, pleaded, and sobbed to them. “Please don’t put her through that. Please don’t do this to my baby!” A nurse grabbed me, and hugged me tight. I believe her name was Katherine. There was so much going on, I’m really not sure. But, for sake of argument, Katherine hugged me, and helped me come back down to earth. She told me I would scare my daughter, and to be strong. I felt like the furthest thing from strong. My heart was absolutely breaking. Everyone in the room. Everyone’s heart was absolutely breaking.
Finally, they successfully got a line on her, and were able to start the anti-seizure medications, and get her on the chopper to OU Children’s. Neither myself or my husband could ride on the helicopter with her. We drove the more than an hour drive down, which felt like a lifetime. When we arrived, Natalie was in the ER in curtain 8. Before we had arrived they had performed another CT scan, started x rays, and stabilized Natalie’s c spine. They drew labs, gave Natalie Tylenol and were keeping a very close eye on her.
It wasn’t long before the neurosurgeon came down and pulled me from the room. He explained that Natalie has a traumatic brain injury, and that with the location of her injury, that their biggest concerns at that time was the loss of motor function to the left side of her body, seizures, or even death. He told me that Natalie had a significant hematoma and they had to get it out. They would need to make a large incision in Natalie’s skull to remove the hematoma all at once. He explained that they would try to push the surgery until morning, but if Natalie showed any changes, that she would need to go under the same night.
I signed the forms giving them permission to cut my daughters skull open, that I understood they would revive her if she died on the table, and that she could have blood if she needed it. The pit in my stomach grew so large, I felt like I couldn’t breathe as this was all explained to me. Many times I felt like I would throw up, or pass out. I went back into the room, pulled Russell aside, and explained to him, what had just been explained to me, but there’s nothing that can prepare you for these things. Nothing. I couldn’t believe the words coming out of my own mouth. Russell immediately asked to speak with the neurosurgeon, but we had to wait for him to come back.
Natalie became extremely frustrated, aggravated, and aggressive. She started kicking, yelling, screaming, and fighting because she didn’t like her neck brace, she wanted to get up, she wanted to go home. She told us not to speak to her, or look at her, or touch her, but we had to keep her still. It was so important that she keep still. Again, we had to hold our baby down while she screamed and fought because she couldn’t possibly understand what was happening to her. She was scared, confused, and distressed.
Neuro came back down to explain everything to my husband before they took Natalie up to the pediatric intensive care unit or PICU on the 6th floor. There, they monitored her, and came in to do neuro checks every hour. This meant making sure Natalie still had her motor functions, checking her eyes to make sure they were still reactive, asking her questions, taking her blood pressure, things like that.
We stayed up all night watching her to make sure she was okay. Around 2:00AM on now June 9th, 2023, I turned on praise and worship music, I sat with my bible at the foot of Natalie’s bed, watching her sleep. I couldn’t stop crying if my life depended on it. Seeing my baby hooked up to all of the machines, neck brace on, unable to move, her eyes puffy from trauma and tears. I took that time to memorize every feature of my beautiful baby’s face, like I hadn’t seen it before. I laid my head down on her, and I begged god out loud to please save my baby. I begged god, “please let my baby get through this. Let them find a miracle in the morning. Let her brain be healed so that she doesn’t have to go through this. I know you can heal my baby. Please!!” I prayed the blood of Jesus over her. I asked my god to move in a miraculous way. I knew he had her. I knew in my heart god was going to heal my baby.
I woke Russell, and asked him sit with her around 4:00AM, and I went to sleep until rounds at 6:30AM when a nurse came in to tell us surgery would probably take place at 2:00PM that afternoon. She then drew Natalie’s blood to match her for surgery in case she needed blood on the operating table. I still woke up every time my phone chimed, or she made a peep, but I felt like I had slept for days. Shortly after the nurse came in, a woman from Natalie’s neuro team came in to ask us what we knew, and answer any questions we might have, because Natalie was soon to be prepped for surgery. I asked her if there was any possibility for another CT scan because I needed to know without a shadow of a doubt that this surgery was necessary. She told me that surgery is not something they take lightly. That once surgery has been decided that that’s it. It needs to happen. She said, “we never go in and unbook an OR. Especially not with a bleed as significant as your daughters. Once it’s decided, it’s pretty much decided.” But we pushed for her to ask for another CT anyways, and she agreed. An hour or so later, a team of doctors and nurses formed a circle in the hall outside of Natalie’s room, and discussed all of their options. They weighed the pros and cons and tried to determine based on how Natalie was doing if the surgery was in fact absolutely 100% necessary. They came into the room and talked with Natalie, observed how she was doing, ran through their various tests. They told Russell and I, that Natalie was very much not out of the woods, but that Natalie’s scans revealed that her hematoma had started to “dissolve” already. This normally takes days, weeks, even months to happen. Natalie’s started dissolving within only 6 hours between scans. It’s safe to say, this is pretty unheard of.
We’re so thankful to all of her doctors, nurses, and our family, but most importantly we are so thankful to our Heavenly Father. Thank you God for putting your healing hands on my baby!!!
They decided to hold off on surgery, and see what would happen. The next morning on June 10th, 2023 Natalie woke up complaining of a headache, and she threw up. At this time, it created concern because it could have meant Natalie had a rebleed and her brain was in danger. They decided to monitor her closely, putting her back on hourly neuro checks. Throughout the day, Natalie developed new symptoms. She was distressed, combative, and aggravated. She also became even more unsteady on her feet, and at one point, even went potty on herself, and was completely unaware it was happening.
Fortunately, there had been no new changes on her CT, and her hematoma was stable. The next time neuro came in, they told us that all of this was normal, and that both children and adults tend to regress in these ways with traumatic brain injuries. They continued to monitor Natalie through the night, and decided to release her today, June 11th, 2023.
Natalie will have to go back in a week for another CT scan, and have regular appointments with the neurologist over 100 miles away for at least the next three months. Right now, Natalie will not be able to do any activities that other kids get to do. No running, jumping, climbing, bouncing. Even laying down with an attitude could land her back in the hospital. Her whole summer has been ripped away from her, and we will not know of any lasting affects until these first 3 months are up. At this time, they are hopeful that Natalie will make a full recovery.
We don’t know how much to ask for, but here are some examples of things we will need funds for during this time:
I will be out of work and I’m not sure for how long, and there is a chance her insurance will not cover all of her medical expenses. Natalie will need things to help her get through this recovery. She is a very active child, and not being able to play will be very hard for her. She will also need things to keep her safe while she is home like bed rails, furniture bumpers, etc., as well as things for anxiety attacks and coping mechanisms. Example, weighted blankets, weighted stuffies, etc. We also don’t know if we will need to pay for our lawyer costs up front but we would like to be prepared. If you feel in your heart to donated, we would be forever grateful to you! If not, please continue to pray and share this with your friends and family!
Thank you for reading, sharing, praying, and helping to support us through this hard time.