As writen by Chanel's mother:

 

Our story is simple - We, along with a neighbor, had been at the North Carolina State Fair on Friday, October 14,2005. We spent the night at a near-by hotel. Saturday, October 15,2005, we all ate breakfast and then the children went swimming. They all showered, we packed up and were ready to head back home. We had just filled up the tank with gas and were on our way home. We didn't make it home. At an intersection , our vehicle was hit by another vehicle whose driver ran the stop sign. The exact events of what happened to our truck after it was hit I'm not sure of. But the truck did flip a few times, struck a utility pole (the side where Chanel was sitting) and then landed on its tires.

Nothing but the grace of God and God's mercy saved us. Everyone was hurt. All seven of the children were taken to three different hospitals. Their injuries ranged from fair to critical. Chanel was flown directly from the scene of the accident to UNC. She was unconscious. Two of the children went to Raleigh, NC and four went to Dunn, NC. Two were released that day. Later that night, one was flown to UNC and the other was taken by ambulance to UNC. The following morning, one of the children in Raleigh was released. A few days later, the other one in Raleigh was flown to UNC. One by one, the children were released from the hospital, but at different dates. Chanel and her younger brother stayed at the hospital the longest, with Chanel being at the hospital the longest. Chanel and her baby brother were both diagnosed with traumatic brain injury. They were both a few doors from each other in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.

We were told that Nicholas, our youngest would be paralyzed. While still in ICU, before the doctors, he stood up on the bed and started snatching lines off of him. We knew he'd be okay. He had to go through inpatient and outpatient therapy. He returned to school January 2006, as if nothing ever happened to him. To us, this was to let us know that Chanel will be that same way. By the way, a witness, who later was one of Chanel's home health nurses, saw Nicholas fly out of the window when the truck flipped. She said it was as if an angel had caught him and placed him on the ground. She said that our truck flipped over him and that Nick landed on the other side of the truck. She said she and another fellow got Nick (he had landed under the utility pole and lines were hanging down) and put him where we found him.

Chanel left the hospital in December of 2005 and was transferred to a Rehabilitation Center the same day she was released from the hospital. She came home the middle of January 2006. It has been interesting having different agencies come to our home. There have been countless, but necessary appointments -some local and some several hours away. But it is all to help Chanel get better.

We looked into hyperbarics march of 2006. Her pediatrician signed the papers for her, but then he said he wanted her to go to a neurologist first to get their opinion. We didn't care for his opinion. Chanel's pediatrician sent her to his neurologist. He admitted that he didn't know about hyperbarics, but he didn't see a reason why not to do it. But when she was in his office, he thought she was having a seizure when he looked at her eyes. This was May 2006. That same night, she had her first full-blown seizure and was admitted to the hospital for about a week. She had several seizures after that, but they are now under control with medication. After the seizures were under control, I again asked her neurologist about hyperbarics. I gave him all the information I had researched and left it with his nurse on a Friday. That Monday, his office called me and said to go ahead with the hyperbarics. He told me he only had one patient that he sent to get oxygen therapy, but it was for a condition different from Chanel's. He said to give her the benefit of the therapy, go for the maximum, not the minimum. He wants us to let him know about the treatments after she gets them and what improvements we see in her so he can let other patients know about it.

Chanel was very athletic before the accident and we know that she will return to the things she loves. At this present time, she has a trach, a g-tube, a wheel chair and lots of other medical equipment and supplies. A few days ago, one piece of equipment was picked up because she no longer needs it. And we know that everything she came home with and acquired because of this accident, will be soon gone because it will no longer be needed.

Chanel is much better from the December photo and she is still on the road to recovery. But now, it is time for us to move on to programs that can provide Chanel the best possible care for her recovery. We thank God for everyone's healing (because it is still going on) and for everyone
who was there at the scene of the accident to help us, who was with us at the hospitals, who are with us at home, who keep us in their prayers and for everything everyone has done- whether we knew them or not. Everyone played a part in where we are now.

Life is a gift and it is very precious. Our story could have been different. I thank God that we are all alive.

In His Service,

Mildred