An Extraordinary Recovery for Raci

When my daughter Raci was 5, she and my husband Ronald waited for a bus to go swimming. Unfortunately, they never got on that bus. As I talked on the phone with them, I heard a huge pop and screaming. A vehicle, driving 30 miles per hour, crashed into nearby parked cars and then crashed into them, pinning Raci underneath. It was devastating.

 

Paramedics in a helicopter flew Raci to Children’s National Hospital for emergency trauma surgeries. She sustained brain damage and developed encephalomalacia, which is the softening or loss of brain tissue. She dislocated her hip and punctured her pelvis. The car broke her left arm. She needed plastic and reconstructive surgery on her face. 

 

So many doctors surrounded us. They said, “Kiss your child. We’re about to try to save her life.” Those words stuck with me forever.

 

Remarkably, she was off life support in three days. She was discharged about two weeks later. Her care team told us she was a one in a million case. They had never seen a child survive with the kind of injuries Raci had.

 

For four weeks, physical, speech and occupational therapies helped her regain her ability to walk and use her fine motor skills. She had additional surgeries, bringing her to a total of six, including reconstructing her cheekbone, repairing the bone structure under her left eye and increasing circulation in her hip. Every department was phenomenal in their care.

 

She has more procedures to come, and we continue to monitor Raci for any changes, such as for potential seizures. But she survived the hardest part. Raci is a brilliant, mature kid for her age. When she returned to school, she turned her classmates’ questions into an opportunity to explain what can happen when people drive drunk. She embraced her scars and made it easier for people to accept her new look.

 

Children’s National helped pay for our mortgage the first month in the hospital, while Ronald was also hospitalized from the impact. It was such a relief. That was an especially tough time, but I’m grateful for the support we found. 

 

Raci’s recovery proved to us that miracles are real. The people at Children’s National achieved the impossible.