On March 5, 2000 my two boys were involved in a near drowning accident. They were playing with a friend when they came across a rope hanging from a tree over a deep part of a creek. Jacob, who was 8 years old at the time, reached for the rope and fell in. Zach, who was 9 years old at the time, jumped in to save his brother. By the time help arrived, both boys were found at the bottom of the creek.  Zach was revived at the scene, but Jacob was not breathing and had no pulse. He had to be flown to Children's Hospital in Columbus. En route he had to be shocked and intubated. Jake was in a coma and not expected to make it through the night. Jacob was without oxygen for 30 minutes.

Several miracles occurred that the doctors can not explain. Also the fact that I had a 10 yr old hero. His birthday present was a trip to Children's Hospital to see his brother, and that's all he wanted! By this time Jacob was starting to wake from his coma. His first smile was for his brother!

But the reason I'm writing today is to tell of the miracle of my son's recovery.

It is truly a miracle that he made it through that first night. He had severe swelling on his CT scan done about one hour after the accident. I have since found out that most initial CT scans will appear normal after an anoxic injury. When they show immediate swelling it is usually a sign of impending death. The first thing they told me when I arrived at the hospital was that his blood gases and CT scan were devastating. Devastating ... I will never forget that word. They also pretty much promised me that the swelling would get much worse over the next 72 hrs. I begged God not to take my baby. To take me instead. I held Jacob's hand and begged God to send His strength through me to Jacob. Our whole town was praying. Churches and people in at least 6 states were praying. But I wasn't just praying, I was talking with God for every single one of those next 72 hrs. There is no doubt in my mind that is where Jacob was when he was in the coma. He was with Jesus.
This is when we were given our first miracle of many. Three days after the first CT scan they did another. It showed no more swelling than the first one did. They couldn't explain it. They had been convinced that Jacob's little brain would swell more, and it didn't. I can explain this. God was holding my baby in his arms. He made his brain quit swelling. What other explanation is there?

The same day they took Jacob off the vent, he was starting to wake from his coma. I went to the Ronald McDonald house for my first shower. When I got to our room, I got down on my knees and thanked God for my baby's life. And the strangest feeling came over me. It was peace. I was not alone in that room, even though physically I was. I know God was in that room with me. It really is a feeling that is hard to explain. Such a wonderful feeling after such hard days and nights of not knowing if my baby was going to live. I felt at that moment that maybe Jacob would be all right.

Of course, there were many bad times after that day that made me question those feelings I had. Maybe I was just so relieved that Jacob had made it that far that maybe I imagined those feelings. One of those times came 2 nights after Jacob was out of ICU. He had come around enough that he was using the bathroom on his own, though not walking to the bathroom. His dad would carry him to the bathroom. He had also said a couple words, his name and his age. So we really believed we were on the wonderful path to recovery. Then his airway shut down. His tongue turned black; his eyes were huge; he looked so scared. I was pretty upset with God. I thought he had let me know Jacob would be all right, and then he let this happen. This was a major set back. After spending another week in ICU Jacob was worse than before. He had no control of his bladder and he couldn't speak. He couldn't walk, talk, swallow, hold his head up, nothing. It was like he was a newborn, except a newborn can protect their airway. But, at least, he was breathing on his own. His airway had shut down due to trauma to the trachea from the vent and croup. He spent a week struggling for every breath he took. The Drs. were once again preparing me for him not to make it. They said he may grow tired and give up. My question to them was, "Why not intubate him again? Why let him lay here and struggle until he gives up?" Now it makes sense why they didn't want to intubate him. There was already trauma and also they would have had to keep him sedated so he wouldn't fight the vent. Those drugs can have a bad effect on an already hurt little brain. They didn't want to give him anymore drugs than they had to. So he struggled, and I got mad at God.
But, it didn't matter -- God kept sending me miracle after miracle.

Jacob's first MRI showed pretty bad injury and permanent damage. The second one was a lot better. Another miracle.

One month after the accident they told me he may never communicate verbally with me again. He is now talking as much, if not more than ever! They told me he may never get his little personality back, most of it is back! They told me he would not do a lot of things that he is doing. Like I said, God has given me miracle after miracle. To me, the fact that after this horrible injury Jacob is home is a miracle. Also, the fact that he is in school again, in a normal classroom is a miracle. Watching him at his first soccer practice Monday night, I felt like I was witnessing another of God's miracles. Jacob needs help in school, and he may never be the star of the soccer field, but he is my star. And I will never, ever forget the miracle of God and what he has given me.

Every night before I go to bed I go into my boy's room and watch them sleep, and every night I thank God for my 2 beautiful sons. I thank God for helping Jacob get this far in his recovery. I thank God for giving me a son who was willing to die to save his brother. I thank God for a community that did everything in their power to help my family, emotionally and financially. And I thank God for being with me and giving me the strength to get my babies through this.

~Written by:  Jacob & Zach's Mom, Kim