Hospital Reunites Teen with Staff Who Saved His Life 17 Years Ago
1010 WINS- Hospital staff at Children's Medical Center in Dallas, TX were overcome with emotion reuniting with Caleb Johnson, a boy whose life they saved 17 years ago.
In 2000, Caleb, who was just 13-months-old at the time, and his five siblings were hit by a semi-truck while traveling in the family van along a highway. His parents, mom Nancy passed away at the scene, and dad Keith died just one day after the crash. As for Caleb and Andre, time was not on the side of the children who were severely injured -- Andre with multiple femur fractures and Caleb with severe head trauma and multiple skull fractures.
When Caleb arrived in the Emergency Room, pediatric neurosurgeon Bradley Weprin, assisted by Dr. Angela Price, acted fast to save the child's life after finding bleeding on the brain. The team rushed him into surgery to perform a craniectomy to evacuate the blood clot and stop the source of bleeding.
"Every second is precious when you're working with a traumatic brain injury, especially in a child that young," says Dr. Weprin. "It truly takes a team who works seamlessly together to make a surgery and subsequent care successful. I can say that there is no other place that I would want my own children cared for."
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The doctors and nurses who worked tirelessly to save Caleb and his brother Andre were left with a lasting impression, but little did they know that Caleb was searching to find the one nurse who didn't give up on him.
The hospital eventually tracked down the caregivers from that fateful night and were finally able to reunite them.
Caleb is now preparing for college and is focusing on raising awareness about brain injuries just like his.
To learn more about Caleb's incredible story, visit Childrens.com.
-Kayla Jardine/Joe Cingrana
