Christmas Day changed Kevin's life
Donation protected
December 25th, Christmas, 2013. What started out as a happy day, quickly turned catastrophic.
Kevin had gone to Maryland to spend Christmas Day with his mother Tamara, sister Kallie living in MD. They were on their way to an aunt's house.
Mom and sister were sitting in the front seat of the car. Kevin was sitting in the back.
Stopped at a traffic light, BANG! someone plowed right into the back of Tamara's car. Because of this person's negligence, so many lives were changed forever. No one's more than Kevin's.
My husband and myself were having Christmas Dinner. During dinner, the phone rang, it was our son Kevin Sr. who lives near Allentown, PA. He told us Tamara, Kallie and Kevin Jr. were involved in an accident. Tamara and Kallie, needed to go to an ER close by to be checked out. Nothing serious.
Kevin Jr. however, was seriously injured. Details were sketchy at that time. We immediately left for MD.
Upon arriving at Johns Hopkins Trauma Center, the staff worked feverishly on him to keep him alive. Again, he was resuscitated and another tube placed in the other side of his chest. The doctors did not expect Kevin to live through the night. The first 24 hours following his trauma were critical but against odds Kevin survived, not aware of his demise.
When I walked into the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at John's Hopkins Children's Center, nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to see and hear.
There was a team of doctors in Kevin's room surrounding him. Each with a very grim look on their face. One by one, they gave a report on Kevin's status in their field of expertise. Every report was so desperately serious. I then asked, but what about his life. Will he live? They all looked at each other and said they couldn't answer that.
Kevin had a traumatic spinal cord injury, C8 AIS A: complete:
Status post epidural, subdural hematomas.
Nondisplaced frontal bone fracture.
Multiple facial bone fractures – frontal, maxillary and orbital
Grade 2 to 3 splenic laceration
T2-T3 spinal fractures
Spinal cord edema with epidural hematoma.
Status post bilateral pneumothoraxes.
Status right adrenal hematoma.
Dysphagia & Autonomic dysreflexia.
Neurogenic bowel and bladder.
Grade 3 sacral pressure ulcer.
.... to be continued.
Comment from Judy Hinch EMT from MD.
Kevin's recovery was/is long and very tedious, filled with pain for him. I held him in my arms in full cardiac arrest as I pulled him from the mangled wreckage. 2 paramedics and a team of volunteer firemen
Brought him back to life after he was struck by a drunk driver. He is truly our Christmas miracle. A few dollars
From many people can help to make his life easier ..
Please support his family's efforts .
Kevin had gone to Maryland to spend Christmas Day with his mother Tamara, sister Kallie living in MD. They were on their way to an aunt's house.
Mom and sister were sitting in the front seat of the car. Kevin was sitting in the back.
Stopped at a traffic light, BANG! someone plowed right into the back of Tamara's car. Because of this person's negligence, so many lives were changed forever. No one's more than Kevin's.
My husband and myself were having Christmas Dinner. During dinner, the phone rang, it was our son Kevin Sr. who lives near Allentown, PA. He told us Tamara, Kallie and Kevin Jr. were involved in an accident. Tamara and Kallie, needed to go to an ER close by to be checked out. Nothing serious.
Kevin Jr. however, was seriously injured. Details were sketchy at that time. We immediately left for MD.
Upon arriving at Johns Hopkins Trauma Center, the staff worked feverishly on him to keep him alive. Again, he was resuscitated and another tube placed in the other side of his chest. The doctors did not expect Kevin to live through the night. The first 24 hours following his trauma were critical but against odds Kevin survived, not aware of his demise.
When I walked into the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at John's Hopkins Children's Center, nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to see and hear.
There was a team of doctors in Kevin's room surrounding him. Each with a very grim look on their face. One by one, they gave a report on Kevin's status in their field of expertise. Every report was so desperately serious. I then asked, but what about his life. Will he live? They all looked at each other and said they couldn't answer that.
Kevin had a traumatic spinal cord injury, C8 AIS A: complete:
Status post epidural, subdural hematomas.
Nondisplaced frontal bone fracture.
Multiple facial bone fractures – frontal, maxillary and orbital
Grade 2 to 3 splenic laceration
T2-T3 spinal fractures
Spinal cord edema with epidural hematoma.
Status post bilateral pneumothoraxes.
Status right adrenal hematoma.
Dysphagia & Autonomic dysreflexia.
Neurogenic bowel and bladder.
Grade 3 sacral pressure ulcer.
.... to be continued.
Comment from Judy Hinch EMT from MD.
Kevin's recovery was/is long and very tedious, filled with pain for him. I held him in my arms in full cardiac arrest as I pulled him from the mangled wreckage. 2 paramedics and a team of volunteer firemen
Brought him back to life after he was struck by a drunk driver. He is truly our Christmas miracle. A few dollars
From many people can help to make his life easier ..
Please support his family's efforts .
Organizer
Karen Taylor Heckman
Organizer
Bridgeton, NJ
