On Tuesday, January 17th, our beloved 12-month-old, Legacy, fell from his learning tower while making a snack with his daddy and brother in the kitchen. Although the fall was minor and normally wouldn't be a concern (the learning tower is designed for children his age, so is sturdy and height appropriate), according to the doctors, Legacy's head hit the floor in just the wrong spot, which made the injury outsized in comparison to the incident.

The Accident

Legacy cried when he fell, so Daniel (daddy) consoled him and iced his head. Legacy quickly went to sleep, which was concerning, so Daniel called 911. Paramedics came, checked Legacy, and said he was fine and didn't need to go to the hospital (he had woken up and was alert when they checked his vitals and ran some tests). They told Daniel to let him sleep, keep an eye on him and take him to the hospital if he wasn't looking good when he woke up.

La Mikia (mommy) was at a memorial and vigil and came home immediately upon learning about the accident. When she got home, Legacy was still asleep, and it was clear that something was wrong. We took Legacy to the ER and advocated for him to be seen immediately. He was taken in for emergency brain surgery within minutes of arriving.

From Brain Surgery to Miraculous Healing

We are grateful that the surgery went well and Legacy is healing. We have been praying for miraculous healing, and God has been swift to answer our prayers. We are blown away by how strong, resilient and brilliant our precious little one is. It is truly a miracle that he is alive and is showing so much progress in such a short period of time.

Preparing for Rehabilitation

Even with his quick and miraculous healing, the fall caused a lot of brain trauma, and Legacy requires intensive in-patient rehabilitation to expedite and ensure his recovery. He will receive physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and other rehabilitation support for several hours each day to help him regain the skills, confidence and mobility he had before the fall.

While we have a health plan that will cover the majority of the costs for Legacy’s care, the emergency room visit, emergency brain surgery, subsequent pediatric intensive care (PICU), extended hospitalization stay (we are still in the hospital), recommended in-patient rehabilitation, and ongoing support for other needs that may arise as a result of traumatic brain injury are costly (literally hundreds of thousands of dollars) and require some out of pocket coverage.

How You Can Support

We have been so blessed and fortunate to receive support from our village of loved ones during this unexpected, completely terrifying and life-altering event. Now that we have a better sense of the care Legacy needs for the best chance at a full recovery, we are asking for support with covering these costs (the total amount is still unknown) so that insurance and billing are not a barrier to Legacy receiving the absolute best treatment from some of the top pediatric care providers on the planet.

This experience has been every parent’s worst nightmare. We never imagined that just one year after welcoming Legacy into the world, we’d almost lose him to a minor, yet terrifying accident; that we’d be watching him fight for his life; or that we’d be advocating for him and praying for a miracle. But here we are.

We know that our healthcare system is broken, and we will continue to fight for transformation because no one should have to create a GoFundMe to solicit financial support to cover the cost of medical care or treatment that should be readily available for anyone who needs it. But here we are.

How Donations Will Be Used

We are grateful for each of you and appreciative of anything you can contribute. All gifts will be put into a health savings account that will be used to cover out-of-pocket expenses for Legacy’s immediate rehabilitation and ongoing medical needs.

Request for Ongoing Prayer

We also ask that you please continue to pray for Legacy’s full healing and speedy recovery, as well as emotional healing for Legacy, Justice and our entire family. This has been an extremely traumatic experience with impacts beyond what we can see physically. We are mindful of the impact of trauma on all of us and are taking measures to make sure we have support to process this together, as well. We know that God hears each prayer and is answering them all.

Thank you for your love, prayers and ongoing support. We love and appreciate each of you in our beloved community.

Los Castillo