I would like to introduce you to Austin.
Just LOVE them!!!
On November 27th, 1999 at 19 years old I became a Mother to a beautiful little boy who I named Austin. On December 11th, 1999 our lives forever changed in less then 2 minutes in the hands of Austin’s Biological Father and my Boyfriend at the time Erik. Austin was shook on that day, however nobody knew except Austin’s Biological Father Erik. On December 12th, 1999 Austin started to get sick when he ate, didn’t want to be moved, and had a fever, glossy eyes. At that point my Mother and I thought he needed to be seen right way so we took him to the Emergency Room where they did tons of tests. That was so hard; he had everything from Cat Scans to Spinal Taps done all while Erik still said nothing. That night while in the Pediatrics ICU, we must have had to tell the story leading up to him being admitted to the Emergency Room twenty times. The next day it all came together, someone had talked to my Mother and informed her that Austin had been shook. My Mother said she wanted the cops to be called now! They were already in route at the time, next thing we know everyone had to go down to the police station and one by one we were all talked to. Erik admitted to shaking Austin. The question still in my mind is why would he hurt his own son? If he didn’t want him he could have walked out of our lives forever as long as Austin was okay. When Erik went to court after everything he only got boot camp! But by his doing he messed up that and then did 4 yrs in jail. Erik will never have any rights to Austin because he shook him. In less the 2 minutes it took Erik to turn our world around our lives were forever changed. Because Austin was shook he suffered a traumatic brain injury. He has Cerebral Palsy and is Severely Multiply Impaired. He was also on medications to control seizures for the first 11 years of his life and has constipation issues. Austin has had his share of hospital time; his first Christmas was spent in the hospital. The first year of his life he was admitted three times within three months and I almost lost him twice. That year he also had three brain surgeries. Austin has also had a hip and eye surgery all before the age of 5 years old. Austin is unable to walk on his own and he has never been able to crawl. Austin gets frustrated because he can not express himself with words like a normal child his age. Austin does understand a lot even though he seems to get upset sometimes because he can’t get his point across. In 2010 I found out my Mother had Cancer and after 10 months she lost the fight! She was there for Austin and I as well as I was there for her when she was sick. She was not only my Mom but one of my Best Friends and was the one who after Austin was shaken said “No matter what we are going to take him home and just LOVE him!” At that moment we all agreed, Austin has been given unconditional love that he also gives back in his actions and responses to another. My parents gave their time to help Austin and so he did not have to be left with anyone other then family. Austin has a good father figure, my Dad and as Austin says “Dada”. A loving family is always there for one and another when needed. My Mission: As a Mother of a Shaken Baby Syndrome and Child Abuse Survivor, I am a voice for our children as an advocate. I am also here to provide resources for other parents or grandparents who have a special needs child.
Please “Just LOVE them!!!”
https://m.facebook.com/JustLOVEthem/about/?ref=bookmarks&mt_nav=0
I would like to introduce you to Anthony.
This is Anthony born April 20,2001. He was
born 6 weeks early due to me I had a blood clot we almost died if I didn’t get
emergency c-section! He was in hospital for a month 3 holes in in heart 1
closed 1 needed meds to close and other closed when he was 5. He needed
breathing machine for 2 days and then needed a tent for awhile. He also needed
a feeding tube and was in a incubator ! He did come home mothers day 2001′ that
was best mothers day gift every! Well Anthony did have devoplement deleys after
that! Well I decided to go back to work and my parents always watched Anthony.
On April 1, 2002 the day after Easter my mother left to go visit family in FL
and other family members and myself had to go to work. So a the guy Ive been
seeing for about 3 months i asked him to babysit that day. He always seemed
great with Anthony never thought in a million years he could ever hurt my baby.
I thought I could trust him with my baby. On April 1, 2002 the only day i ever
left my baby with anyone is the day he got violently shaked 5 times. Anthony
got yelled at for ripping the babysitters car magazine. Anthony was only 11 in
half months old 20 days before his first bday! The babysitter gave him a
bottle, and laid him down for a nap. At least the babysitter had some common
sense to check on him and realize he was not waking up and call for the
neighbor upstairs. They called 911 and they said he was limp and unresponsive.
I then got a phone call at work that something was wrong. I meet them at the
hospital. They rushed him to local hospital did CT and then said he is in
critical condition and needs emergency surgery. They then transferred him to
Children Hospital. Anthony was suffereng from bleeding in the brain and left
eye. When doctor was done with surgery he said Anthony suffered the a classic
Shaken Baby Syndrome case! At that point it was all a waiting game nobody knew
how Anthony was going to respond to the surgery. When he wake up he wasnt able
to move the left side of his body which told the doctor he was paralyzed on the
left side of his body. They also noticed the pupil of his left eye does not
react to light, indicating there is brain damage. Anthony did start responding
to food. Anthony stay in icu for 3 days then was put in a room and there a
week. Doctors felt Anthony needed intenvsive therpy in at rehab hospital. So
Anthony and I was transported to a rehab hospital for 3 months. I was able to
live there with him the whole time. He was released after 3 months which was
July 2002. He came home a still continue to get intensive services at home
through EIV. Anthony is still in Therpy now and will always need some sort of
therpy the rest of his life. The Babysitter did admit to shaken Anthony 5
times. He also admitted that he was 16 years old and lied to me telling me he
was 21. So they charged him as a minor and was sentences to 1 year in jail. He
did get out in 9 months on good behavior. His records are sealed cause he was
charged as a minor. Anthony will always suffer from Traumatic Brain
Injury/Abusive Head Trauma, Cerebral Palsy on the left side of his body,
Legally Blind with out his glasses, Intellectually Disabled aka Mental
Retardation, Mood Disorder, ADHD, Seizure. He is able to walk but, does have a
lot trouble keeping up and gets tried very quickly. He can only use his right
hand left side of his body is very very weak. His mood can be crazy at times.
This usally comes along with a TBI/AHT. We have been through hell and back from
day one from the time he was born and still continue to have challenges everyday!
I belive that God got me through this and still does everyday! God has
something special in place for Anthony he survived twice in the first year of
his life. He is truly a MIRACLE! I’m so proud to be his mother. I love my kids
more the life itself!! HE IS A SURVIVOR AND MY HERO!!
To continue to see updates on Anthony’s life feel free to follow his page.
https://www.facebook.com/pg/AnthonyNovelloSurvivorOfSbs/notes/?ref=page_internal
I would like to introduce you to Allan
Little Dude’s Life
Allan is our grandson whom we are adopted. His birth name is Kemuel Gene Wagner. We do not call him by that name. Kemuel died the day his birth mother abused him and Allan was born the day he came home with us. He has lived with us since his discharge from the hospital post brain injury. I want to share his story in the hopes that it will help spread awareness.
Allan was born on Sept 14, 2015.He was a couple of weeks early and very healthy. Unfortunately not known to anyone outside of his home, he was suffering. His mother began abusing him when he was just a few weeks old. Little things that no one noticed or she could easily explain away. One day she took it a step farther a popped him on his nose causing a nose bleed. She told our son about it and he didn’t report it or tell anyone what happened.
On October 19, 2015 was when Kemuel was almost beat to death. He woke up from a nap and began crying. His mother picked him up out of the swing and threw him into a recliner nearby. According to a police affidavit she punched him at least 10 times in the head before her wedding ring cut his scalp and caused him to bleed. At that time she panicked and came up with a story that she was carrying him and tripped over the cat and fell on top him. She called his father at work and told him that story. He rushed home and called 911.
He was transported to their local children’s hospital. Around 6pm that night our son called us and told us that Kemuel was in the ER with a skull fracture from a fall. We drove 5 hours to where they live and didn’t get to see Kemuel until the next day. We walked into his room and to see him hooked up to all those tubes and wires was horrific. I burst into tears. They didn’t let his mother up to see him. Which we figured was just protocol because it was an injury. Later that day our son told us what happened. The birth mother was arrested the following day.
We were told it was the worst case of child abuse they had seen there. He had a subarachnoid brain bleed, subdural bleeds, broken (healing fracture) tibia/fibula. He had a seizure during the initial CT scan and then stopped breathing in the ER.
We were told to prepare. That the first 48 hours were the most critical. That if he lived past 48 hours that we would then discuss the next steps. When he lived past 48 hours, they said he would be a vegetable. That he would probably need a tracheostomy and a feeding tube. They woke him up from is induced coma and removed his breathing tube and he started breathing on his own. Then he took a bottle. The seizures stopped. He was discharged on November 3, 2015. He came home with us. It has been a tough road but he is a fighter. He now has daily seizures, cerebral palsy, developmental delays, cortical visual impairment and is considered legally blind. May 2017 he failed his second swallow study. He now has a G-tube. He cannot have anything by mouth. The brain injury causedextensive damage. His cerebrum died and turned to mush/liquid. He only has his brainstem and cerebellum that works. He is not a vegetable but he does have minimal consciousness. He doesn’t walk, crawl, talk or eat on his own. As he gets older his body gets tired, he cannot fight off illnesses as well as normal children his age. A simple common cold sends him into the hospital. He has to wear a Bipap at night with oxygen. His airway collapses because he does not have the muscle tone he needs to keep it open. He now wears oxygen during the day at times because he can’t get enough on his own.
We recently had to make the tough of decision of signing a Do Not Resuscitate for Allan. Every time he catches a cold it knocks his respiratory system down. It is taking him longer and longer for him to recover. He is also on hospice and has a private duty nurse during the day to help care for him.
All of this because his mother got upset and frustrated when he started crying. If she would have just walked away, he would be a different boy. Running and playing with his cousins.
His birthmother only got 10 years deferred adjudication probation after pleading guilty to First Degree Felony Child abuse. What that means is, as long as she follows her probationary rules, once the 10 years are over the offense will be removed from her record. In other words it will show she was charged with a first degree felony but not convicted. So it’s like it didn’t happen. He got his life taken from him while she gets to go on living hers.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/188980468328489/
I would like to introduce you to ZEDKJAH FAITH.
Hi my daughter was a victim of shaken baby syndrome on Nov 24th 2011 by her biological father she was only five months old she had blood in her brain as will as her left eye she had emergency brain surgey everything with find she is now seven years old and doing great her biological father did sterve four years in prison for what he did. My daughter name is Zedkjah Faith.
I would like to introduce you to ALEC.
Meet the Children
Hello my name is Amy Laird and I wanted to introduce myself and my survivor Alec Van Beveren. Here is a little of his story. I gave birth to Alec Aug 25,1997. He was perfect. My situation not so much. I left his bio dad because it was a bad relationship. I left him when I found out I was pregnant. During my pregnancy I started talking to someone else. Yes young and dumb and just wanted to have a stable guy to help with my kids. We dated my whole pregnancy. I had Alec in Aug and he kept asking me to move in. I wasn’t ready. Although I wanted a relationship with a good guy I wanted to go slow. Well wasn’t much longer I gave in. I was at his place all the time anyway. So we moved, everything was great. He had a great job, a house, kids of his own. Christmas 1997 was great. Then a few days later my world was shattered. I was at work and got a call. He just said Alec was not waking up. He was lethargic. I rushed home, felt like forever. I rushed Alec to the ER, I should have called 911 but I was so confused and worried I just drove. They said he was having a stroke and took him from me to start saving his life. He was sent to a bigger hospital where he had a blood clot removed from his brain. They put him into a coma so his brain swelling could reduce. All the time his abuser was with me at the hospital. I was putting pieces together. While at the hospital i had family move my things out of his house. As I started looking back things didn’t add up. He did this to my baby. A month later my baby was able to go home, and with me. It took 3 years to go to court and he was found guilty. He got 8 years in prison. Today Alec is 21, is tube fed, non verbal, he wears diapers, has epilepsy. He is 100% dependent on myself or others. I still can’t believe this happen to my baby. This year he will graduate from school so we are transitioning into adult life for Alec. I used to go out to schools and hospitals to educate. Alec now has a Facebook page and you can follow him here.
Update 2020..
Alec is 22. His seizures are the best they have ever been. Having 5 or less a month. Last April we added another medication and that has seemed to help. He graduated from school last year and has been home with me. I recently became an Independent Provider so I can devote all my time to taking care of him. Obviously I would regardless but being paid to sure will help so I dont need another job. We see Complex care Drs and Cerebral palsy clinic Dr. All just to keep his quality of life the best we can. He does have a dislocated hip so that causes pain sometimes but over all he is happy and healthy.
https://www.facebook.com/Alec-Van-Beverens-Journey-a-Shaken-Baby-Survivor-147175632668168/
Stop Shaken Baby Syndrome Inc. 