written on May 18,2002:

On December 20,1999 I was at work with the preschool at the local United Methodist Church. At about 11:00am my three children,Tracie 20 who was home from the University of Tampa for Christmas break,Marshal,13,a 8th grader in middle sschool, and Scott,19,a freshman at Florida State University. Just starting their christmas break the 3 of them decided to have lunch and go Christmas shopping together. They came to trade my daughters 1980 Pontiac for my 1997 mini van. The usual "byes, and I love you's and drive safetly" and they left and I went back into the building. I was talking to a co-worker and heard a sound I will NEVER forget. A magazine article later stated it..."Laura rushed to the scene and recognized the mangled car as her own, and a horrible truth registered, her children,all three of them, were still inside" Yes, I got there,I will neverforget it. Tracie and Marshal were being sent by ambulance to two different hospitals, Scott was going to be airlifted to Bayfront Trauma Center,in St Petersburg Florida, 2 hours away. Scott wasin exxtremely critical condition,he was revived at the sceneby the paramedics(who by the way had just happened to be at the church with the local TOYS FOR TOTS program). Scottaa discloated and broken shoulder,broken ribs,broken pelvis,he had what we were a "severe catastrophic brain injury" difusion axonal,brain shearing,and brain stem injury, his brain had also rotated and was not in the right place in his head. Also,he had a cervical-cranial-dislocation, his head had actually separatedbrom the spine,and, we were told, no one survives this type of injury. He was in a coma,and on allthe tubes and machines which I know all of you knowabout. He is not expected to live. Two weeks go by and they decide to put the halo on,even though his head is still not on his spine,"maybe it will fuse itself". We talk to himthe whole time he is in NICU,his heart beat and breathing rate shows uss he knows we are there.he wakes up in January,but doesn't try to speak, just stares,we continue to talk to him and read to him. In February 2000,The neurosurgeons see that the head is not fusing to the spine and are honest with us, they have never seen anyone survive this and they feel he needs to be moved to a diferent hospital. He is moved to SHANDS,University of Florida, in Gainesville. He now weighed about 80 pounds and was still in critical condition. The doctors at Shands fused his head to his spine from the top of his head to C-5,with titanium rods and bone from his hip..He was so thin that the rod that goes accross the back of his head stuck out on both sides. The x-ray is a fantastic thing to see. Scott then goes to Healthsouth rehab hospital in Sarasota Florida.We are still told that no-one has ever survived an actual discloation. He becomes more aware in April 2000,and smiles, shows his sence of humor,and works with all the therapists to get better. He is an inpatient for many months then joins the day-hospital program where he was there from 8:00 untill 4:00 and went home every day. A year later and he is eating pureed foods,walking with a walker,and speaking (oh yes, he had a collapsed pallet,and this inhibited his speech and swallowing)hisleft side is considerably the weaker side. Meanwhile he had been vomiting for many months and it was diagnosed as reflux,so it is very hard for him to gain weight. January 2001(1 year 1 month after the accident) he is backsliding fast, I am begging for help and told "it is probably the flu" . He came home and turned blue.Aspiration pnemonia,Well his brain had swollen again, and he had hydrocephalus,and had a shunt put in. More damage to the brain, this time the 4th ventricle. Scott is back in the hospital,back as an inpatient at the rehab hospital and has to start over again.The feeding tube,walking,etc. This time his left side is affected even more and of course it was a hard blow for the whole family. With Great spirit Scott did it all again, he smiled and laughed and worked to do it all again.He was finally released from Healthsouth in August 2001,20 months after the original accident. Then he went to an outpatient clinic (still run by Healthsouth) where he was untill february of 2002. He still continues to make gains,he has a wonderful spirit and sence of humor. He goes to the local YMCA every day to excersize and try to improve. He is walking with a cane and refuses to use a wheelchair. He goes to the local community college to take courses so he can go back to a university soon.He was a very popular kid in high school and all his friends have left him, he is different than he was before but is still an awesome person. He will start hislife over and make all new friends,one-at-a-time. He will get hislife back and have a good quality of life also.He has survived and will thrive, He is a great person with a wonderful smile and sense of humor. He is my son and I love him very much. Laura Thomson (if I can ever figure out how to put a picture in this I will, I think he is very good looking also!!)

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This is a PS to my story: Scott has also written about himself,(typical mom I did it too, I am so proud of him) so you can look it up under his name, Scott Thomson. Also-some of you asked. Tracie returned to college,though a different one, her decision to start over) 8 months later. She is working part time and goes to University of North Florida,she is happy and fine. Marshal, is now a sophomore in highschool,the president of his class, a member of the national honor society and got his licence in January,(yes, i pray every day, but we have to let them go don't we?) laura