Brennan, Branton, and Brody

On Friday afternoon (September 2, 2011), I decided to go to my parents’ house. I thought it would be good for my boys and me to get out of the house. I knew that I could help my dad with some things and that Brennan and Branton love to play out there. I called Kayla and asked if she could keep Brody.
Sometime a little after 1:00, I took Brody to Kayla’s house and Brennan, Branton, and I went out to my parents’ house. The boys were happy to see Grandpa Oakley, as they always are. After a few minutes, Dad and I started working on some things in the garage. Brennan and Branton played outside the garage together. They ran up and down onto the trailer, threw rocks, carried sticks around, and just played.
Dad and I started cleaning off some shelves in the garage while the boys continued to play. Then Brennan walked through the garage and into the house. Brennan did not shut the door, so Dad went and shut it to keep the cool air from coming out on the hot day. When Brennan saw Dad shut the door, he came back into the garage with his cup. Brennan closed the door but not completely, so Dad went onto the garage steps to show him how to close it all the way. I was still standing on the ladder cleaning off a shelf.
Then Dad asked Brennan where Branton was. Brennan didn’t respond, so I asked him. He still didn’t say anything. Dad walked out of the garage and said he would find Branton; we hadn’t seen him in the time that Brennan had been in the house getting his drink and couldn’t see him playing right outside the garage door anymore.
My dad called his name a couple times and I didn’t hear him respond. Then I heard Dad say, “Oh No! Oh No! God No!” as I heard the water pour over the side of the pool. I couldn’t see what was happening but knew from my dad’s cries to God and the sound of the water that Branton was in the pool.
My dad grabbed Branton’s body from facedown in the pool as I climbed down from the ladder and ran outside. Dad laid his lifeless body on the trailer. He was a bluish pale color, was unconscious, not breathing, and without a heartbeat. I remember thinking that I only had Brennan and Brody now. I thought that Branton was gone forever.
I ran into the house to get my phone and called 911 as I ran back outside. I was hysterical as I told the woman that I needed an ambulance and gave the address and phone number. My dad was crying out to God and performing CPR on Branton. He breathed into his mouth many times without any response. Then as Dad would breathe air into him, water would come out of Branton’s mouth. Dad said the more he breathed, the more water came out. He did chest compressions because his heart was not beating. That is when God gave him back to us. He spit out a lot of water and his eyes opened. The way his eyes were scared me because they opened so quickly but it didn’t look like he was there; his eyes were just glazed.
I was thrilled to hear my dad say he was breathing, but he still did not look good at all. After he started lightly crying and breathing more, Dad stopped breathing into him. Branton squeezed Dad’s hand, made eye contact with him, and Dad picked him up. I remember telling Dad that we just needed to put him in the van and take him to the hospital because they were being too slow, but he said they would be there to get him. Sometime during that I called Cole and told him to come to my parents’ house.
Then a police officer got to the house and didn’t seem concerned. As Dad heard the sirens, he carried Branton and Branton threw up all over himself and Dad. Branton just cried as Dad carried him and took much deeper breaths but he wouldn’t hug Dad back. The ambulance pulled in and then other emergency vehicles. Dad put Branton in the ambulance and the paramedics asked Dad if he was going with them. He said no but that I was. I got in the ambulance and they laid Branton down, put an oxygen mask on him, strapped him down, asked me questions, cut off his shirt, and put monitors on. Dad said that as he got out of the ambulance Branton made eye contact with him and Dad told him he would be okay. It felt like a very long time that we just sat in the ambulance in the driveway. I asked where we were going, and they said St. Francis. I asked why we were going there, and they told me that Wesley and St. Francis are the trauma hospitals and that St. Francis was closest. I called Cole and told him to meet us there.
We eventually started driving to the hospital. The paramedics talked to me on the way. They said that Branton was doing great. They said his quiet cries were good because it showed his awareness. They were very encouraged by him breathing on his own. Branton would not look at me or squeeze my hand, but the paramedic told me that I had to remember that he was so tired, that he had fought in the water as long as he could. He told me that it was fine for him to sleep. As we drove, they tried unsuccessfully three times to insert an IV. Then they told me they were not going to poke him anymore, that they would wait until he got to the hospital.
They told me that when we got there, I would not be with him for awhile. They said they would have to check him over completely in the trauma area and that I could not be with him. When I asked, the paramedic said it would probably be 30-45 minutes before I was with him after we arrived.
When we finally got there, they took Branton out on the stretcher. Cole and my mom were standing at the entrance waiting for us. They took Branton inside and then showed us where to go to wait. While we waited, different people asked me to tell what happened. They told me that they had to thoroughly check Branton because no one saw what happened and he could have fallen, have broken bones, have other injuries, etc.
They asked me questions about whether or not he normally talked because he wouldn’t talk to them at all. Then they took us back to see him to see if he would talk to us. He laid there and didn’t talk. The doctor said that he didn’t get the response that he hoped from Branton seeing us. They said they needed to check him a little more and then would take him to the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) where we could be with him. They took us back to the waiting room. A sheriff gave me a paper that he said I needed to fill out detailing what happened. A doctor came back and said the preliminary results of his head looked good and they were taking him to the PICU. Then my Uncle David came.
The chaplain took the four of us upstairs to wait in the ICU waiting room. Eventually, they came and got Cole and me to see Branton. When they took us in his room, he said, “Mommy! Daddy!” It was the best sound in the world. I knew at that time that I had my little boy back. They had him lying in bed with a neck brace and monitors. He was breathing on his own without extra oxygen. He talked a little and even sang parts of songs with us. He didn’t move while he laid there other than moving his head and neck some because of the neck brace being uncomfortable. The nurses said that the neck brace had to stay until the radiologist read the tests and the doctor said it could come off. Branton could move his head around, so the brace wasn’t really doing any good but it had to stay for awhile. Branton was able to give us kisses too. He was doing wonderfully, but we did notice that everything he said was slower than normal. He kept talking about his back but as I asked him questions about his back, he kept saying, “No.” Cole finally figured out that he was saying, “I’m back.”
After a few minutes, I went out to the waiting room. My mom, my grandma, my grandpa, and my uncle were there. Mom and Uncle David came back to Branton’s room with me and were very happy to see him. After they saw him for awhile, they went out and GGma (my mom’s mom) and GGpa (my mom’s dad) came back to see him.
He asked for a drink, but when I gave it to him he acted like it hurt his throat. He asked about Brennan. Everything he said and did showed us how aware he was.
Steve, Cindy, my Granny (my dad’s mom), Grandpa Roy, my Aunt Pam, Mandy, Brette, my Aunt Liz, Leslie, and Tristan came to see him. He was much more interested in watching Toy Story 3 than visiting, but it was great for them to all see how well he was doing. Then he took a nap for awhile.
After he was awake, my dad came to see him. When Grandpa walked in, Branton said, “PawPaw!” Branton was very happy to see Grandpa, and Grandpa was delighted to see Branton. It let Grandpa know that Branton really was back.
During that time, Cole’s parents arrived from Oklahoma. Gran (Cole’s mom) and Grandad (Cole’s dad) were very happy to see Branton and he was happy to see them. The more time that passed, the more like himself Branton was. While Daddy, Gran, Grandad, Grandma, Grandpa, and I were all in the room with Branton, I decided to go out to the bathroom. Branton knew where I went, so as soon as I came back, he said he needed to potty. He saw that I got to leave when I needed to go, so he wanted to go too. The nurse unhooked the monitors so he could go and when we got in there, he went. I really thought he just wanted to get out of bed, so I was happily surprised. While we stayed at the hospital, Branton quickly figured out that that was the way to get the monitors off and get to walk around, so he went to the bathroom six times!
After some time, Branton said he was hungry so the nurse brought him some cheese and crackers. He didn’t know the nurse’s name so he said, “Thank you my good girl!” It was precious.
Gran and Grandma left to get some supper from Spangles for all of us. Branton wanted some and the nurse said it was fine for him to have some hamburger and French fries. Branton said the prayer and it was the longest prayer I have heard him say. I couldn't really understand what he said, but it made us all so happy. It was very obvious that as time passed, he was doing much better. It was so good to see him sitting on his bed, talking, and enjoying his food. Everything he did made me smile and thank God.
Later, my sister, Michelle, and her boyfriend, Will, brought Brody and Brennan to the hospital. The boys were so happy to see each other. It was so great to have my whole family together.
Aunt Shelly and Will left, Brennan and Brody went back to our house to spend the night with Gran and Grandad, and Grandma and Grandpa went home. We spent a little more time with Branton and then said he needed to go to bed. He drank a bottle of milk (because the sippy cup that they had leaked everywhere and we didn’t have his cup), played a little in his bed, and then went to sleep.
I was awake most of the night, and Branton decided it was time to get up around 4:30. I was happy to be up with him because that meant I had my little boy. One of the things that Branton told me during that early morning was, “I’m here.”
That morning, they did blood work and took another chest x-ray. Every time the nurses took his blood pressure, they said it was giving his arm (or leg) a hug. Once the nurse said, “You are going to get a hug.” Branton reached out his arms and hugged her. She was very happy and told me that this just isn’t the outcome that they see in cases like this. She said that everything looked good but that we had to wait for the trauma doctor to come see him before we could be dismissed.
The doctor came in and said Branton could go home. While the nurse was completing the paperwork, Branton fell asleep on my lap. My sister, Krista, and her husband, Justin, came to see us. After we did the paperwork, Aunt Krista and Uncle Justin, walked out with us. When we got outside, we walked to our car and they walked to theirs.
As we walked Branton woke up. When we got near the car, Branton said, “Jesus come.” I asked, “Who came?” He said, “Jesus.” I asked again, “Who came?” He said, “Jesus!” We asked, “Did you see Jesus?” He just covered his eyes and didn’t answer. We drove home, so thankful to our God for giving us back our baby boy.
When we got home, Brennan and Branton hugged. They had missed each other and were happy to be together. They played and argued. Both were wonderful to hear. Branton is back to his normal self. We keep praising our God!
On Sunday as we drove to church, Branton said, “I’m home.” We haven’t been able to get him to elaborate on things but know that he is aware that something happened due to his comments: “I’m back.” “I’m here.” “Jesus come.” “I’m home.” We are so thankful to have our baby boy back and know that we serve an Almighty God!
We are incredibly thankful to Grandpa for knowing what to do and getting Branton breathing through crying out to God and performing CPR. We are thankful to all our friends and family for all of the prayers and words of encouragement. Most of all, we are thankful to our Heavenly Father for saving our son and returning him to us. We serve an awesome God!