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Haley Peterson
I am the mother of Haley, who is now two years old. When she was 4 1/2 months, we were at a minor league baseball game near our home. Myself, my then 12 yr old daughter, and 10 yr old son were in the stands behind first base. The baby was in her infant seat on the bench next to me. She had fallen asleep after nursing about a half hour before, so I put her in her seat, buckled her in (safe right?) , and put up the "canopy" to keep her warm. I also laid a blanket over the canopy to keep some of the noise out. The game was almost over when a player hit a foul ball very high in the sky in our direction. I saw him hit it, watched it in the sky, and couldn't tell if it was coming our way or not because it was so high. When I finally realized it was coming directly down on us, I had my hands already on the baby seat and tried to just move her out ot the way. That was the biggest mistake of my life. I only made it to where she was basically on my lap before the ball came down directly on her seat. I went into immediate denial, foolishly thinking that the "canopy" had shielded the baby. It is only made of fabric and flimsy plastic. I took the blanket off the seat and looked at her and she still just looked asleep. People came rushing up to see how she was and I first told them she was okay. Acouple of minutes went by and I just kept looking at her and kind of trying to wake her when I saw her tiny little eyes roll back in her head. Then I knew something wasn't right. They had already called an ambulance and we began making our way to the sidewalk . My older children were hysterical. I was very afraid, but I had to hold it together for them and for Haley. She never woke up until several days later. When I knew my other kids were being taken to the hospital and were safe, I took her little infant cap off and saw that her head was already swollen on both sides. I didn't know at that time the ball had hit her right on the soft spot. The ambulance came after what seemed like a year.

She was taken to the Medical Center only a few miles away. THe doctors had to first do a CT scan, then put in an ICP monitor before discovering that they would have to operate to remove the clotting blood, some bone fragments, and some brain tissue. She was then taken to PICU. I didn't get to see her until about 9 the next morning. They told us the pressure in her skull was still very high. They said a normal pressure would read 10 to 20. Anything over that was life threatening. Haley's was in the 80's. We watched the numbers on that machine go up and down for the next 4 days. Each day the doctors would say " Well, the next 24 hours will tell". The pressure finally came down enough to take her off the ventilator, and begin to bring her out of the drug-induced coma they had her under. She had been fighting all that time by breathing over the machine. I spent the entire time in the hospital. I only left once to take a shower in two weeks.

After a few days they realized I wasn't leaving, so they just put me in a room down the hall. I was pumping breast milk for her every 3 hours pretty much round the clock. I also spent a lot of time by her bed praying out loud, singing to her, and talking to her. I began right there learning everything I could to help her. I also prayed to God that if it be His will to let me keep her I would do whatever I had to do to take good care of her. He graciously granted me that privelege. She spent the two weeks in the PICU and then was transfered to Scottish Rite in Atlanta for two more weeks of Rehab. We expected to be there much longer, but the insurance kicked her out.

She came home on June 8, 1998 to excellent care from Early Intervention services. She is two now and she has come a long way. She has had a bad bout with seizures but we finally got the meds right. She does well with feeding which was our first major hurdle, but still cannot sit up, roll over, or reachout for toys. Her vision is limited but we're not sure how much. We know she sees something. Sorry this is so lengthy, it's one of the few times I've written her story. There is a lot to tell. I really would like to hear from others who have little ones with similar injuries, although I know Haley's is unique, as there seems not to be many babies' stories in this site. This is the first one I've found like this, it is good to relate to so many people. However, I would rather not have to be dealing with this kind of tragedy, as I know you feel the same, it is so very saddening. The Lord is the only thing that keeps me going strong for my little sweetheart and all my family. THanks for "listening' and for sharing.

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