This weekend we were getting ready to make wedding invitations for my brother and his fiancé for the 14th of June! We were so excited to welcome Jacqui and her two adorable children into our lives! As we pulled up to the house, her mom came running around the corner and told us that her sweet little boy Vince had fallen into a river while having visitation with his father in the canyon, and that he was being life flighted to Primary Children’s hospital, Jacqui and her mother jumped into the back of my van and off we sped the hour to the hospital, on the drive up the hospital called and told us that he was in extremely critical condition and was unconscious, As we arrive they rushed Jacqui and her mother away and we waited for them to get him into the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) as we called my brother and kept him updated (he is in the Navy and stationed in CA). As we sat and waited for any info on this sweet little man. that just turned 2 last month, we cried with his grandmother and Aunts and uncles and waited for the best to happen! about Midnight Jacqui came running into the waiting room crying that Vince was dying and that she needed her mom with her. The doctors who I have every respect for, then told us that his stomach was bloated and so distended that they could not get enough blood pressure to get blood up to his poor little brain. They told us that they had a surgery that was his only hope, but that no child in the hospital had ever lived through it, they gave us a very small chance even survival but Jacqui signed the papers and they started the surgery. they came in and told us that he made it though, and that his intestines were nice and pink, not the black and gray that they usually find after the surgery, then they told us to go home and get some sleep, and that Jacqui and her Ex-husband could spend the night with Vince, we all left hoping that tomorrow would be a new day and all would be well with Vince.
But on Sunday morning they checked his pupils at about 5:30 am and they were fixed and dilated, Jacqui called us and told us if we wanted to say goodbye that we needed to come up as soon as possible, we jumped back into the car and drove to the hospital, where we waited until about 12:30 when my brothers flight got in, on the way back from the airport they told us that they had done the first test for brain activity and he had not responded to any of the 12 steps, and that they would repeat the test again in 2 hours, as we waited and these young people had to decide about organ donation and, things that no parents should ever have to decide about. The Doctor came in and said that he was going to go administer the test again, as we prayed that some miracle would happen! It had happened yesterday, he had survived the surgery, please just one more were all we are hoping for. But the Lord has his own plans and his own timeline, and Vince was proclaimed brain dead. We then waited in line to go in and say goodbye to his little broken body that was laying in the hospital bed, and his Grandfather, Jacqui’s dad said the most profound thing. He looked at his watch and said. 20 hours, its only been 20 hours.
In 20 hours we had gone from planning a happy wedding celebration, To a Funeral for a little boy that’s life had not even begun to start. all of the family's hopes and dreams for this little boy were gone. and now they had to look forward to nothing…. just
here is a link to the blog that you could donate to this little mans funeral and medical bills, The father was supposed to have health insurance on the children, but as we found out at the hospital he had not yet purchased it, so any amount that you could donate would be appreciated.
http://vincelarsenmermorial.blogspot.com/
Thanks
Heather
