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Sunday July 19, 1998 started out as just another ordinary day. It was a beautiful summer day so we decided to get some yard work done. About 4:00 we had just gotten home from the store when Michael had asked if he would go to his cousins house. Without a hesitation I told him yes. Michael went over there everyday so there was no reason to be concerned. I was getting the plants out of the truck when Michael jumped on his bike and left saying I will be home in one hour. His younger brother Anthony asked if he could go to and he followed right behind Michael. Less than 5 minutes later I heard a siren go on and off which sent chills down my spine. I had the worse feeling come over my body and told my daughter Stephanie to get on her bike and go see where the siren stopped at. Just then Anthony came riding down the road. His face was white as a ghost and terror was in his eyes. He started screaming "Mom Michael got hit and his face is hanging off" those words will never be erased from my memory. I jumped in the truck and drove two blocks and found my son lying in the middle of the road screaming and fighting the paramedics. My first thought was there is only an abrasion on his forehead and he is crying so that means he will be all right. I laid on the road next to Michael trying to comfort him and get him to stop crying and respond to me. Then the worse thing happened, he quit crying and closed his eyes. I immediately realized something was wrong. I started screaming for Michael to wake up I wanted to hear him cry. It seemed like my screams were echoing and no one was there to hear them. Michael was transported to our local hospital where they immediately called for life flight to transport him to a children’s hospital in Salt Lake City. Michael was not breathing on his own and was sedated just in case he did wake up and try to pull the tubes out of his mouth. We had to wait helplessly for 45 minutes until the life flight could arrive. The ER doctors told us that Michael’s brain was beginning to swell and that things didn't look good. I kept my faith I knew Michael was a fighter and that he loved life too much to have it end this way. Because of lack of space we could not ride in the helicopter with Michael, so we had to make the two-hour drive to Salt Lake City. When we arrived at Primary Children’s Hospital we were told that Michael had just come out of surgery and that the Doctor would meet with us to explain his condition. My first thoughts were YES he is a fighter and he is alive. All I wanted was to see my son, but were told we had to wait for the Doctor. It felt as if I had sat there for an eternity just waiting and wondering what was taking so long. Finally the Doctor came in and told us what we didn’t want to hear. He explained to us that they had to remove the left side of Michael's skull in order to release the pressure from his brain and that as far as they could tell he had no brain activity. He also told us Michael was not breathing on his own and that his chances of recovery were very slim. I couldn’t and wouldn’t believe what I was hearing, the only thing I could say was "you don't know Michael he is a fighter and he will recover". I thought okay now that you have gave us your medical opinion I want to see my son, but before he would let us see Michael he had to explain to us what we were going to witness. He explained to us that Michael’s head was covered in a wrap, which had a probe sticking out to measure his brain pressure and that on the left side of the wrap the words "NO BONE" was written because they did not reattach his skull. He told us that Michael would appear to be breathing but it was a machine breathing for him. He was hooked up to all kinds of different machines and had tubes and IV's running in and out of his body. When we were finally allowed to see Michael I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The Doctor's description of what we were going to see didn't even come close to what we saw. We sat by Michael's side praying and hoping for the best. On Monday afternoon he was taken in to check for signs of brain activity. We patiently waited for the results while praying for some good news. Again the Doctor came in and explained to us that Michael was showing signs of brain activity on the right side of his brain, but there was none on the left side. At last I thought we had some hope, until he told us that if Michael was to recover he would never be able to walk, talk or play. We were asked then if we wanted to take him off life support. Our first response was no way not as long as there was still some hope. They told us we didn’t have to make a decision right away but if there was no improvement by morning a decision would have to be made. I never believed I would ever have to make a decision like this. That night didn't bring us any hope. We sat there and watched the pressure on his brain rise by 3 times the normal brain pressure. Michael went in for another scan that morning Tuesday July 21, 1998 around 8:30 am. When Michael was brought back in he was accompanied by the Doctor and the hospitals Social Worker. I knew then that God spared us the pain of making that horrible decision to keep Michael on life support or not. We were told that there was no brain activity on either side. Michael was pronounced dead at 10:40 am on July 21, 1998. That was the day our whole world fell apart and the day my fight for Justice started.
Don't grieve for me, now I'm free, I'm following the path God has laid, you see, I took his hand when I heard his call, I turned my back and left it all, I could not stay another day to laugh, To love, to walk, or play. Tasks left undone must stay that way, I found the peace at the close of day.
If my parting has left a void,
Be not burdened with times of sorrow,
Perhaps my time seemed to brief,
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