Daniel's Story

At age 4 ½ our son Daniel fell from his second story bedroom window on July 5, 2005, and sustained a serious head injury. After spending 9 days at Mary Bridge Children's Hospital, when medically stable he was transferred to Children's to continue his rehabilitation. Daniel spent two weeks at Children's receiving in-patient physical, occupational and speech therapy. When we arrived at Children's, Daniel was not speaking and had very little use of his right hand and arm. We knew that Daniel's mind was strong and processing everything around him, but his little body had not yet healed from the trauma.

Our experience at Children's was - in one word - AMAZING! From the moment we entered the door and saw Daniel's first smile since the accident we knew that we were in a special place (Daniel smiled when he saw the elephant sculpture in the wonderful Giraffe wing). The nurses in the rehab unit were so welcoming, professional and caring. Our son was also treated by the most wonderful therapists and physicians. Miss Christie, PT, Miss Betsy, OT and Miss Karen, SLP and others helped Daniel to get better so quickly. Within a few days, Daniel began to speak and each day his arm and hand became stronger. His therapy sessions were just play to him because the therapists are so good at what they do. Our whole family was treated so well by hospital staff. By the time we left Children's, Daniel was discharged from PT and Speech Therapy because his functioning had returned to normal in those areas. He continued to get some outpatient Occupational Therapy but is now mostly recovered in that area as well.

Daniel has returned to Children's a few times since his discharge including a minor throat surgery in December, 2005 to remove a growth on his vocal chord. He looks forward to these trips because his memories of his time at Children's are so good. Thanks to the wonderful Children's staff, we have a healthy, happy five year old who just started Kindergarten this fall.