Dillon Crawford's: Personal Testimony
Dillon's mother emailed the following...this was a blog written by her neice about Dillon and his experience.
"June 28th of last year is a day my husband's side of the family will never forget. Our teenage cousin, Dillon, was in a nearly fatal ATV accident near his home in Baker, FL. (Between Destin and Pensacola) Coincidentally, an off-duty paramedic was passing as the accident was taking place and help was called immediately. Dillon was flown by helicopter to Sacred Heart Hospital, an hour's drive from Baker. The 4-wheeler landed on top of Dillon's head, crushing his skull, and left him with a traumatic brain injury. During this time, doctors told his parents to expect the worse as Dillon's body fought fevers and swelling in his brain. Again, coincidentally, a renowned brain surgeon just happened to be doing work at that particular hospital when Dillon was admitted.
Many times during those first few days we received calls to start praying--they thought Dillon was slipping away, and countless doctors said they had never seen a patient with injuries such Dillon's make any kind of recovery. Dillon was hanging on to life.
He slipped into a coma. His body was healing slowly, but still doctors were skeptical if he would wake up, let alone have any type of brain function. As the weeks went by, his parents, family members, and friends talked with Dillon, held his hand, and prayed and fasted for him.
After 4 months, Dillon started to stir. He slipped in and out of consciousness and began to speak broken words and phrases. As more weeks progressed, Dillon started to regain consciousness and it was discovered that the accident left him completely blind due to damage on the optic nerve from the swelling in his brain. It became apparent that although Dillon's body was badly injured, his personality was still his own. One story that sticks out is when Aunt Carol (Dillon's mom, our aunt) and Cheryl (Travis' mom) were hooking Dillon up to his feeding tube, they would talk to him and tell him he was having great food like steak and potatoes. One day, Cheryl told Dillon he was having hot dogs and asked if he would like ketchup, mustard, and relish. To their surprise, Dillon responded, "Ketchup only, please". Not only was this the first phrase that he actually talked back with, it was something that was very familiar to Carol. Dillon had eaten hot dogs his own life with ketchup only. To me, as a mother, this stuck out--we all know our kid's little quirks.
After spending 6 weeks in the PICU and an additional 9-weeks in an in-hospital rehab clinic in Atlanta, Dillon was able to come home. Carol says, There were many challenges the biggest being that Dillon could no longer see the world with his natural eyesight". She adds, "He has had to learn to see the world with his heart and can truly find beauty in everyone".
Over the early part of this summer, Dillon has made great strides with his rehabilitation. He is able to walk without a cane for short distances and recently told Travis and I a story about walking 150 steps all by himself out to his dog's pen. You can imagine the excitement!
Dillon's story is one that those affected by tragic accidents may be familiar with. Although it was a new type of devastation for our family, many all over the world have experienced similar struggles as they find themselves, or their children, in these types of situations. However, while Dillon was in a coma, he found himself in the presence of the Savior. Dillon had a unique experience that started to emerge with the first few broken words and phrases that came out of his mouth as he was starting wake up.
Over Labor Day weekend, I got the privilege to hear Dillon share his story in a room of 50 or more people--some he barely knew. Sitting in the middle of the room in a chair, unable to see the ones around him, he shared what he experienced." Listen as Dillon tells his story:
"I had heard the story before, as Dillon has kept his promise and has shared with our family many times. (His mom says everyone else he meets, too!) But hearing this story from Dillon's mouth, in his own words, was truly soul-touching. Dillon speaks with the Spirit and it is hard to question if what he is saying is true--you just know it is, you can feel it.
Recently, Dillon traveled back to the PICU for another surgery. One of the doctors that had administered to Dillon told his parents that Dillon had raised the bar for how badly you can be injured and still survive. Other doctors and nurses mentioned that because he just kept hanging on, so did they--even thought they were certain, at that time, Dillon wouldn't survive."
