It was just another Sunday, finally getting to play outside in the nice, Spring, Minnesota, April weather when the worst thing that could ever happen to any parent happened.

April 11, 2015, I remember that day like it was yesterday and will never forget that day as long as I live.

My son at the time was just about to turn 1 years old on April 25, 2015. His first birthday, the big UNO. We had plans for a big birthday bash with friends and family.

Now most kids start walking around 1 years old. Easton was holding on to anything and everything he could to get around the house. It was kind of crazy because most kids crawl before they walk, well neither of my boys crawled. It’s like they didn’t need to crawl when they could walk to get somewhere much faster. Anyways when most kids are learning to walk and when they fall they will bend at their needs and fall down on their butts. Easton of course did not do that; he would always stiffen up his legs and fall straight backwards. Luckily when this happened it wasn’t a big deal because we were right behind him to catch him or he would fall on something soft.

On April 11, 2015, I came inside with Easton to water the new tomato plants that we started growing. They were on our window ledge right behind the couch. We went to get some water and I put Easton right next to the couch so he was standing up and holding onto it, as he has done many many times before. Well for that split second of watering the tomato plants everything changed, he fell backwards, right onto the carpet. I picked him up immediately and started to console him as he was crying, not but a minute later I noticed that his chest was getting all red and blotchy and he closed his eyes and wouldn’t wake up. I yelled for my husband and told him to call 911. Within minutes our baby boy had 3 people standing over him trying to wake him up. We ended up taking an ambulance ride to the Waseca Airport and were airlifted in a helicopter to Children’s Hospital of Minneapolis; it was the longest ride of my life… 18 minutes to be exact but felt like forever.

He was breathing just fine the entire time but was unconscious until we landed on the rooftop of Children’s Hospital. The helicopter doors swung open and two men grabbed the stretcher that Easton was on and Easton eyes finally opened up and he started to cry. My heart just lifted, my baby is awake, I was yelling to him “Mommy is here baby” I love you “Mommy is right here” “I love you”… everything is going to be ok…."

They pushed Easton into a very large hospital room with over 10 or so doctors all dressed in light blue scrubs there to look at him. They put him towards the front end of the hospital bed where the “head” doctor started checking him out.

At the same time I had numerous people come right up to me and talk to me asking all sorts of questions about what happened to Easton… over and over… and over…and over....

At the same time people were asking me questions I was staring at my child who was screaming crying. Finally the “head” doctor who was in charge told everyone to back off and let me hold him; I sat on the bed and cried and held him, so happy that he was awake and seemed ok.

They then took us to get  a CAT scan of Easton's head, which later ended up showing bleeding in the brain.

They put us in a waiting room by ourselves which then Easton proceeded to puke all over me. I felt so horrible for him, you could tell he was hurting. My dad was the first to show up then my mom and brother. My husband came but not minutes later as he had to drive the hour drive to the hosptial.
We ended up staying in the hospital for 5 days in the NICU and had to keep the room dark to let him rest. The only thing to heal him was time. He could barely keep anything down and he slept A LOT.

Now when a child goes into the hospital with an injury such as Easton’s it is protocol to do more test to make sure that the child is safe in the home.

I understand why they do this but man was it brutal…..

He had to get pictures taken of the back of his eyes which they had to sedate him for.

We had to hold every single part of his tiny little body for them to take X-rays of.

Do you know how much pain this can cause one person or a family?

I did not leave his side or his room the entire time we were there. My husband, nurses and even the social worker told me to go take a walk or go get some food or just go to the Ronald McDonald house to take a break…. but I just couldn’t.

After we finally got to talk to our neurologist and the social worker the 2nd time we finally got some answers and help and relief that our son was going to be ok.

All the test confirmed that the bleeding in his brain was caused by the fall.

Most kids skulls aren’t as big as Easton’s is and his brain was still growing to basically fill it properly, however since there was a slight gap, such a simple fall as Easton’s had could cause bleeding in the brain. The neurologist said he has seen this before and it is not uncommon and that he would be fine, it would just take time to heal. We had to take Easton to get scans to check on the bleeding 3 more times.

Seeing all those families in the NICU at the Children’s Hospital, going through their own hard time was so heartbreaking. I am so thankful for how amazing our team was and how much they took care of not only our son but us as well.  It was the hardest time of our life and we would not wish that on anyone in the world.

So that is why we have a very strong connection to the Children’s Hospital and we feel like it is our turn to do something to give back. If we could help out just one family in the NICU; what a great feeling that would be.