“I want people to see that miracles do happen,” says Tiffany Vendela, referring to her 9-year-old son Trayden’s recovery after he was hit by a car in late May.
Tiffany was walking around her neighborhood in Huntsville while Trayden and his younger brother rode their bikes ahead. It was around 8 p.m. in their quiet neighborhood, and it seemed like “any other night,” she said.
That is until a car suddenly plowed into Trayden at the bottom of a hill. The two boys made sure to put their helmets on before riding — a nonnegotiable for Vendela — which might have saved Trayden’s life.
When Tiffany came running, she found her son had suffered severe injuries to his head and abdomen. He was intubated on the scene and flown in a helicopter to Primary Children’s Hospital.
Trayden spent eight or nine days in a coma, said Tiffany. An MRI revealed brain bleeding and swelling as well as damage to nerve fibers. When he woke, doctors moved him to the neurotrauma unit, which allowed for more visitors, and slowly, Trayden became more alert.
Twenty days later, Trayden was released from the hospital and is making good progress. He is participating in outpatient services and is still “that fun loving kid,” said Vendela, but adjusting to his new reality will be hard.
While he recovers, Vendela said, “He can’t run, jump, ride his bike, get on horses. He can’t play tackle football, which he loves, and so there’s a lot of things he’s not going to be able to do.”
The restrictions can be confusing for Trayden, who doesn’t remember his injury and wants to rejoin his friends.
‘An idea of what he’s going through’
(Tiffany Vendela) Trayden Vendela, center, is surrounded by family while hospitalized as he recovers from a May crash near his home in Huntsville, where the 9-year-old was struck by a car while riding bikes with his brother.
The frustrations brought on by brain injury are not new to the Vendelas. In 2007, Trayden’s dad, Travis, was wounded in Iraq by a roadside bomb.
Tiffany said that her husband’s experience places him in a unique position to empathize with their son. Travis was able to answer Trayden’s questions when he first woke up and talk him through some of the initial confusion and pain that their son was experiencing, she said.
“His dad is just a really good support system for him, because he, in a way, has an idea of what he’s going through,” said Tiffany.
Despite everything, Tiffany and her family refuse to be bitter. “If you go down that rabbit hole of, ‘Why me?,’ or, ‘Why would it happen?,’ I think you can just get to a really negative place. And so I always try to find the small blessings in, obviously, tragedy.”
Everyone faces tragedy, she added, “but some are just more external than others.”
Trayden’s trauma evoked a powerful response from the Huntsville community. The Vendelas received meals, visitors and toiletries for long stays by Trayden’s bedside, as well as donations through a GoFundMe campaign set up for medical expenses, which had raised more than $36,000 as of Wednesday afternoon.
Plus, they hosted a well-attended homecoming celebration for Trayden.
“People are just good,” Tiffany said.
Trayden’s recovery is only just beginning, but the family plans to take it day by day and cling tightly to their faith.
Tiffany asks that people in general try to have an understanding for invisible brain injuries. What is important, she says, “is giving people grace, because we don’t know what they’ve gone through, right?”
She said she tells their story for two other reasons: to remind people to wear helmets, and to be careful while they drive. “You never know,” she cautions.
Those interested may continue to follow Trayden’s recovery progress on Facebook.