“We Hope and Pray Damian Jr. Proves Us Wrong…”
“We hope and pray Damian Jr. proves us wrong” is a resounding life statement for our son. This is the statement that the doctor repeatedly confessed with tears in his eyes as he recounted the trauma that our son experienced during the very first moments of his life. He was certain that it would take a miracle to overcome the medical team's professional prognosis.
During delivery, Damian Jr. experienced a severe sudden brain injury that adversely affected all of his body systems and organs. Once born, he was resuscitated for 30-40seconds. And after the first few hours of his life, many of his systems and organs had amazingly rebounded, but there were major concerns about the injury to his brain and what the implications could mean for Damian’s quality of life. According to the doctors and all of the initial tests, his outlook looked very, very bleak with very little hope. So for the next 4 weeks he remained in Intensive Care fighting for his life and proving them wrong.
And still six years later, Damian Jr is proving them wrong! I was reminded of this defining statement during an educational planning meeting last Friday for our son. Damian Jr was selected to participate in a pilot inclusion program that the GA Department of Education is launching. Only 2 students in special education were selected in the whole state, and Damian Jr was one of them! He will be spending 2-3 hours daily in a 1st grade general education class, starting in November.
During Friday’s planning session, the team responded to the question, “Who is Damian Jr.?”
Check out the responses:
• Happy
• Spunky
• Determined
• Intuitive
• Musical
• Engaging
• Social
• Funny
• Polite
• Opinionated
• Affectionate
• Joy filled
• Involved
• Talented
• Smart
• Quick
• Sweet
• A Leader
We are so grateful to Damian’s teachers, principal, and team at Kincaid for believing the best about him and to the GA Department of Education for piloting this program. Please continue to hope and pray that Damian Jr. and all involved will surpass all expectations!
