Hi this is Desiree, Dominick’s mother. This is my story about you and what you have taught our family.
On May 24th, 2005, my son was walking home the four blocks from Hamilton International Middle School. It was a beautiful sunny spring day. He had just finished his favorite after-school program—kayaking. Dominick was 11 years old and had had a great year in 6th grade, his first in middle school. He had gone from being an okay student to an honor roll student. He had just finished the ‘Natural Helpers’ training for peer to peer support. He had many friends and was a lot of fun. The new challenges of middle school seemed to bring out the best in Dominick.
Dominick came to Stone Way and stopped at the crosswalk. He waited until the cars stopped for him. Four of them did - 2 in the Northbound lanes and 2 in the Southbound lanes. Another car swerved, passing two of the stopped cars and headed for Dominick in the crosswalk - it changed our lives forever.
How can I tell you what you taught me about life in the minutes, hours, days and months that followed? You came that night to Harborview Medical Center as I waited in the emergency waiting room to see Dominick before they operated on his head to try to save his life. You came from school, from the YMCA, from church. You prayed and sat with Dominick as he lay on life support. You came as he lay in a coma. You read books to him and held his hand. You came as he went through the long weeks of inpatient rehabilitation. You played music for him and watched funny movies quietly. You helped me walk him through the gardens at Children’s in his wheelchair. You brought food, home cooked for our family to the hospital every week. None of you knew what Dominick would be like as he emerged from the coma. You did not know if he would be able to speak, walk, play and make us laugh like he used to. But you came anyway.
When we went home from the hospital you formed a team of visitors and came and spent time with Dominick at our home. He was very different than he had been before the accident. He was a survivor of traumatic brain injury with all the physical, emotional and mental impacts of a brain injury. Painful to be around sometimes because we could all remember the bright funny can-do Dominick we had known. Because of your love and constant presence I believe that Dominick’s spirit stayed with us and continues to come back more and more each day.
As we began the difficult road of therapy and rehabilitation, it got harder. Healing from TBI is such a long road and relentless in its demands. It is shocking how much damage 3,000 lbs of steel can do to a human being. It is overwhelming to face a child who remembers who he was physically, socially, and mentally and discovers he can’t get back no matter how many therapies he does or vitamins he takes.
My darkest hour came in January 2006, months after Dominick was hit, when Dominick stopped wanting to live. You stayed even through these times, offering prayer, counsel, company, alternative therapies, creativity, respite, and every attempt to keep him strong and in the game of Life.
You are the reason that today, a year after Dominick was hit, we give thanks and we have hope for continued recovery from such a massive trauma.
You are the reason Dominick loves life again and believes that he will be able to have a good life and contribute again. We prayed for a miracle and you came willing to be the hands of God, holding our family in our darkest hour. Thank you.
I have learned from you that we are all the hands of God.
We must now turn our hands to the work of protecting our children and communities from the appalling destructiveness of car pedestrian crashes. It is in our hands to improve the situation.
For more info on Dominick's journey see links below:
CaringBridge - a journal of Dominick's journey
Links to Media Coverage
6/31/06 North Seattle Herald-Outlook
5/24/06 KING
5/24/06 FOX
5/24/06 KIRO
5/24/06 Feetfirst
7/14/05 KOMO
5/25/05 KIRO
5/25/05 KIRO Video
