If you were to look at my Isabella Maria today, you would think that she doesn't deserve to live. She is just now beginning to learn how to walk again (with help), and she just got the feeding tube removed a few weeks ago. We are doing everything possible to try to get her to eat.
Unfortunately, she wasn't always like this. In January of this year, she suffered a horrifying childhood accident that's left her brain damaged and physically disabled. She has cerebral palsy induced by trauma to the brain when she nearly drownded.
Only intensive speech, occupational, and physical therapy every week has brought her this far. It isn't much, but it's better than she was. We want to try anything to help her improve.
Until this year, Isabella was a laughing, talking, very active little four-year-old girl. Now she relies on other people to help her with daily living skills. She can no longer walk or talk. She uses a wheelchair when we are out in public (like at the store or at church), but at home or for shorter distances, she can walk by holding on to us. It's a long, slow, laborous process, but she can do it.
We didn't know she had been by the pool until our other child, Guiseppe, found his little sister lying lifeless in the water. His screams brought us all running; I don't think I will ever forget the sight of our child lying on the bottom of the pool, not moving. In all reality, we thought she was already dead.
I started screaming while Antonio (my husband) dove into the water and pulled our daughter out. She was as limp as a wet dishrag; her little body was blue. She was not breathing.
It was the worst moment of our lives.
We called for an ambulance, which arrived a few minutes later, much to our relief. The paramedics worked on our daughter; we never felt as helpless as parents as we did then. It was our worst fears coming to fruition.
At the hospital, the ER team worked for over an hour, trying to revive our daughter. Finally, after about an hour and fifteen minutes, Isabella sttarted breathing again, which was nothing short of a miracle; however, our joy was short-lived when we learned that our daughter had sustained severe brain damage.
She would never be the same again. If she talked or walked again, it would be a miracle. Doctors didn't hold out much hope for our child.
However, God has ways of working when we least expect it. He not only brought our daughter back, He has allowed her to start eating again. She is taking her first steps at her attempt to walk again. It's only been a little over five months since this accident, but every day, we see new signs, signs of our daughter coming back to life.
It is enough to make us weep with joy.
We don't know what the future holds for Isabella, but with God's help, she may just make it. To have her back in our lives is one of the best things that could have ever happened to us.
~To be continued.~
