Mackenzie and Michael's Story

Mackenzie and Michael
Ages 10 and 8
Car Accident

Children’s Specialized Hospital

It was supposed to be a normal day for Mackenzie and Michael, who were living with their grandmother for the summer. On their way home from Chuck E. Cheese, a truck hit the car their grandmother was driving. Tragically, the accident was so severe their grandmother did not survive. Mackenzie and Michael were left in comas with traumatic brain injuries.

Mackenzie suffered an open skull fracture and a fractured collarbone. Michael suffered a more serious brain injury known as “sheering” where nerves were severed causing a decrease in neurological and motor functions. Both children were treated at Children’s Specialized Hospital.

Mackenzie went home a little over a month later, having regained some use of the right side of her body. Michael was an inpatient for four months and underwent coma stimulation and many intensive therapies to get him breathing on his own and to regain the use of some motor function.

“I had never heard of this hospital, but doctors who referred us said it was the best children’s hospital in the state," said their mother Nicole. “That turned out to be a huge understatement.”

Mackenzie, 10, and Michael, 8, still miss their grandmother, but they know she is watching over them as they lead happy lives with the support of their parents.