Christian will be terribly missed as he made a tremendous impact on the
lives of people from one end of the country to the other. Even though he
has been called home by God he will live on through his
poster and his
teachings regarding Shaken Baby Syndrome. Christian had his
own
unique personality and those that knew him along with those that were
close to him, were able to know his personality and loved him dearly.
Christian collected the hearts of people like
others would collect flowers.
Please read the following news articles about Christian and his family.
May 5, 10:27 PM
Shaken Baby Syndrome poster child dies at 6
Father could face murder charge
By J.D. Gallop
FLORIDA TODAY
TITUSVILLE -- Christian Joseph Dubisky's short life of blindness, painful
seizures and
cerebral palsy literally made him the poster child for Shaken Baby Syndrome.
Now nearly seven years after Christian survived being shaken violently at the
hands of his
father, the curly-headed little boy known as "CJ" has died of severe
respiratory failure.
"This little guy was tough," said Kevin Knight, Christian's
grandfather and caregiver.
"I will miss his laugh, his smile but we'll continue to educate people,
that way his memory
will keep going," Knight said.
It was Knight's photograph of a then 4-month-old Christian tied to tubes in a
critical care
unit that helped create awareness of the syndrome with the slogan for parents
to, "Never,
Never Shake Your Baby."
Christian, who suffered his life-threatening injuries Oct. 5, 1996, died of
complications
associated with Shaken Baby, according to the Brevard County medical examiner
and
the state attorney's office. "We are treating it as a homicide and are
giving serious
consideration to pursue a murder charge," Assistant State Attorney Michael
Hunt said
Monday. Christian's father, Michael Dubisky, is serving a 15-year prison
sentence on
an aggravated child abuse charge connected to the case. Officials said there is
no statute
of limitation on murder in the state of Florida, even when suspects have lesser
charges
stemming from the same incident, officials said.
A memorial service will be at 10 a.m. Friday at North Brevard Funeral Home.
"He collected hearts like you and I collect flowers," Knight said.
Kevin
Knight talks about his grandson, Christian Dubisky, who suffered From Shaken
Baby Syndrome,
in
his home in Titusville. Image © 2003, Emily Barnes, FLORIDA TODAY
Poster child for shaking disorder stirs
awareness
By Corey Schubert
FLORIDA TODAY
TITUSVILLE -- Christian Dubisky couldn't see the stuffed rabbits and lions by
his
bedside, but he liked their soft fur on his cheek.
The 6-year-old boy who couldn't speak often giggled in spite of the oxygen tubes
in
his nose, said his 25-year-old mother, Donna Knight of Titusville. He was just
as
aware of the love that surrounded him as he was of his pain.
"He could barely move his legs, but he could move people," said
Christian's nurse,
Josephine Lingerfelt, who tended to the youth until he died Monday from injuries
suffered nearly seven years ago at the hands of his father.
Severe respiratory failure took the life of the child known as "CJ,"
who became a
poster child for Shaken Baby Syndrome after he was violently shaken when he was
four months old on Oct. 5, 1996. The trauma cursed him with a life of blindness,
seizures, cerebral palsy, congestive heart failure, osteoporosis and at least
half a
dozen
other severe ailments.
A picture taken by the family showing the diapered child in an intensive care
unit --
surrounded by wires and connected to tubes, yet still clutching a stuffed
dinosaur --
has
been distributed in more than 41 states and seven countries. Christian's family
hoped
the disturbing image would create awareness of the syndrome.
Now, as they prepare for his memorial service at 10 a.m. today at Temple Baptist
Church in
Titusville, they are continuing to discover the effect the wheelchair-bound
boy had
throughout the world.
"We've had e-mails from people in London, Canada, France, Germany who sent
their
condolences since
he passed away," said Kevin Knight of Titusville, Christian's
grandfather
and caregiver. "I got a phone call from Perth, Australia on my cell phone
two days ago
from someone I don't even know."
'We
were his toys'
Christian
never learned to walk, talk or play with toys, because he couldn't control the
movements of
his body.
"Instead, we were his toys," said Linda Knight, Christian's maternal
grandmother.
"We
would hold his hands, play patty-cake and sing silly little songs to him and he
liked
that."
Police said the child was violently shaken by Michael Dubisky, who is serving a
15-year
prison
sentence on an aggravated child abuse charge connected to the case. State
prosecutors
may charge him with murder in connection with Christian's death, Assistant
State
Attorney Michael Hunt said.
Christian's undeveloped neck suffered whiplash during the shaking, which caused
his
brain to
bounce around in his skull, Kevin Knight said. This tore blood vessels
connecting
the brain to
the skull and destroyed his thought-process.
The twisting of Christian's brainstem injured his hypothalamus and took away the
control
of his body
temperature. A thermometer placed in his mouth on an average day would read
about 92
degrees, Linda Knight said.
Epilepsy caused him to have seizures, sometimes about one every minute, Kevin
Knight
said. Food
was fed through a tube in his stomach and oxygen pumped 24 hours a day into
his lungs.
Nurses were by Christian's side at the Knights' home 16 hours each day for six
years.
Helpful
remedy
About 30
medications each day helped Christian survive to enjoy several playful moments.
"He loved Elvis. You'd put on some Elvis music -- especially the one that
goes, 'Let me be
your teddy bear' --
and he'd go crazy," Christian's mother said, wiping tears from her eyes
from her seat on
the green couch where Christian died.
Kevin Knight pointed to a poster filled with photos of Christian throughout his
short life.
Among the snapshots
was a picture of the youth dressed as a U.S. soldier during
Operation Desert
Storm, his breathing tubes overshadowed by a tan camouflage uniform
and a wide grin.
"He defied the doctors every time you turned around," Lingerfelt said.
"One day he was
at death's door in the
hospital and the next day he was back to normal. "He
survived
because he had so much
love," she said, her voice trembling with emotion.
'Go
on home'
Kevin and Linda Knights'
home has been a busy place this week, with frequent visitors and
callers stopping by. As
friends leave, Kevin Knight often offers them an invitation to "take
a stuffed animal to
remember 'CJ' by." He sometimes extends one arm toward the mountain
of plush critters on the
youth's hospital bed, gently carrying the boy's brown stuffed pooch
around in his other arm
like a security blanket.
A poster of the hospitalized child rests on a living room table beside a handful
of Shaken
Baby Syndrome brochures.
"None of us knew why we took that photo in the hospital," he said.
"Then it hit us. We
figured, if it could save
one child from being shaken, it would be worth opening up our private
lives to make this
poster."
Knight recalled taking the photo in 1997 to Jerry Scott, owner of Scott Printing
and Mailing
House in Cocoa. "He
took the picture and looked down at it for about 10 minutes," Knight
said. "When he
looked up, tears were streaming down his cheeks. He said, 'It's not going to
cost you a penny. How
many do you want?' "
Since then, Scott has printed at least 150,000 brochures and about 5,000 color
posters, all at
no cost to the Knights,
he said.
Knight gazed at the couch and described Christian's mid-morning death as a
peaceful one.
"The nurse said it didn't
look like he was going to make it," he said. "I went over there and
kissed him on the forehead and
said, 'Go on home. We'll miss you, boy.' "
Donna Knight said she plans to sing Sarah McLachlan's "Angel" at her
son's memorial
service.
Donna
Knight, mother of Christian Dubisky,
sings "Angel" as a tribute to him while holding
one of his favorite toys during his memorial
service at the Temple Baptist Church in
Titusville. Image
© 2003, FLORIDA TODAY
Updated Saturday, May 10, 2003 01:11 AM EDT
|
Family
Members and friends gathered for a memorial service on Friday in
memory of a 6-year-old Titusville boy who died May 1, after he became
known worldwide as the poster child for Shaken Baby |
May 9, 5:56 PM
Service pays tribute to Titusville boy, 6
'Shaken baby' poster child touched many
By Corey Schubert
FLORIDA TODAY
TITUSVILLE -- Donna Knight's eyes brimmed with tears as they remained fixed on
her 6-year-old son's picture. The voice of the 25-year-old Titusville mother
remained
strong as she sang at a memorial Friday before about 150 friends
and family in memory
of Christian Dubisky, the poster child for Shaken Baby Syndrome who died May 1.
"You're in the arms of the angel . . ." Knight sang, gently rocking
one of her son's favorite
stuffed animals in her lap as if it were a child.
A poster showing the hospitalized child shortly after he was violently shaken at
4 months
old on Oct. 5, 1996, rested at the head of the Temple Baptist Church. The
resulting
injuries made Christian blind, unable to eventually speak and prone to painful
seizures
throughout the wheelchair-bound boy's short life.
His father, Michael Dubisky, is serving a 15-year prison sentence on an
aggravated
child abuse charge connected to the case. State prosecutors may charge him with
murder in connection with Christian's death, Assistant State Attorney Michael
Hunt said.
But the well-known photo of the youth has touched thousands of people while
warning
about the dangers of shaking a baby through its distribution among 41 states and
seven
countries, said Kevin Knight, Christian's grandfather and caregiver.
"Christian was a special boy who changed lives," said the Rev. Jeremy
Coppock of Faith
Baptist Church in Titusville. "Now God has taken this little child
home."
Knight said she chose to sing Sarah McLachlan's "Angel" because the
song once gave
her son the biggest smile she'd ever seen.
"My little porcelain angel is at rest now," Knight said. "There
is no more pain or
darkness for him and that makes me happy."
The following was written by Mister Robbins and sent to the editorial
editor of
the Florida Today News
Child's death raises stakes
By Irvin Robbins Jr. Cocoa
My jaw hit the floor this morning after reading that Assistant State Attorney
Michael Hunt was "giving serous consideration to pursue a murder
charge"
against the inhuman person who shook a baby named C.J., resulting in his
paralysis and eventual death at age 6.
As a former police officer and father, I'm wondering what it takes for the word
"murder" to be applied here. No one can imagine the heartache and
grief the
mother and grandparents have suffered since the child was brutally shaken as
an infant. They have been devastated, but have never given up hope on that
precious little guy. He wasn't supposed to live a year after his injuries, so he
had
the toughness of his grandpa, Kevin.
I hope Florida Today closely follows the case. If C.J. was the poster boy for
shaken
babies, then the person who shook him and caused his eventual death should
become
the poster boy for convicted child killers.
Shaken Baby Syndrome poster child dies
Wednesday, May 7, 2003
Associated Press
TITUSVILLE — The child whose injuries from abuse literally made him the
poster
child for Shaken Baby Syndrome has died, and the imprisoned father may face
murder
charges.
Christian Joseph Dubisky, 6, suffered blindness, painful seizures and cerebral
palsy in the
years following the Oct. 5, 1996, attack. It was a photograph of then
4-month-old
Christian tied to tubes in a critical care unit that helped create awareness of
the syndrome
with the slogan, "Never, Never Shake Your Baby."
Severe respiratory failure and complications associated with Shaken Baby were
the causes
of the May 1 death, according to the Brevard County medical examiner and the
state
attorney's office.
Christian's father, Michael Dubisky, is serving a 15-year prison sentence on an
aggravated
child abuse charge for injuring Christian. He now may face additional charges.
"We are treating it as a homicide and are giving serious consideration to
pursue a murder
charge," Assistant State Attorney Michael Hunt said Monday.
There is no statute of limitation on murder in the state of Florida, even when
suspects have
lesser charges stemming from the same incident.
Copyright © of the Naples Daily News
May 12, 5:12 PM
Though it was short, Christian Joseph Dubisky's life was one of tremendous impact.
Called "CJ," the Titusville 6-year-old died last week as a consequence
of being violently
shaken when he was 4 months old.
That shaking tore blood vessels to his brain, resulting in multiple debilities
and leaving
him dependent on life-sustaining machinery and around-the-clock care.
Shaken Baby Syndrome is the leading cause of death by physical abuse to children
in
Florida. An estimated 500,000 cases of the syndrome occur each year in the
United
States, and one in four of those children die as a result.
From CJ's tragedy, however, some good has come.
There was little public awareness about the dangers of shaking babies when CJ
was
injured, but a picture of him was turned into a widely distributed poster and
used to
increase understanding of the syndrome.
Now more parents and caregivers know what to do when the stress of parenting
becomes overwhelming. They know that babies should never be shaken.
They know that before losing control they should put the baby in the crib, leave
the
room,
phone a friend, listen to music, find another way to calm themselves, or call
Florida's state-wide, toll-free hot line at 1-800-FLA-LOVE.
We hope such steps will result in fewer needless deaths such as CJ's.