A 12-year-old girl from Georgia was critically injured after a tree branch fell on her on September 6, according to PEOPLE. Now, she’s in recovery after her head was “split open,” and her family is calling it a “miracle” that she’s even alive.
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Tree Branch Critically Injures 12-Year-Old Girl, But She’s Now In Recovery
According to WANF, three weeks have passed since Claudia Bacon fractured her skull at the Paulding Meadows Art Festival. After the incident, she has a hard time recalling what happened. But she knows she attended the event in Dallas with a friend.
The one person who would never forget that day was Charlena, Claudia’s mother. “That’s just the scariest thing that’s ever happened. She was on a ventilator,” said Charlena.
“She wasn’t reacting to anything, and her hair was just full of blood. They couldn’t stop the bleeding.”
Charlena wasn’t sure her daughter would survive after seeing her in critical condition. “For a minute, we were not sure she was even going to wake up,” she admitted.
Luck was on this family’s side, as Claudia recovered and has been healing through therapy. “Everybody has said it’s a miracle,” Charlena said. “Like it had to be God. There’s no other explanation for it.”
In Claudia’s GoFundMe, the description explained how critical her injuries were. Reportedly, a storm had come through, causing the branch to collapse on the young girl. “She lost a lot of blood,” it said.
It continued to detail the extent of her injuries. “She has had a blood transfusion, she has a fractured skull, bruised lung, broken rib, and she’s currently on a breathing tube and sedated until further notice to manage pain.”
A Long Road Ahead
Charlena also went into detail on how horrific the wounds were to her daughter’s head. “Her head is split open from the back to the front,” said the mother.
“You don’t know how that’s going to affect her for the rest of her life or if everything is going to come back like it was before. But we’re trusting in God that it’s going to be complete healing.”
Since the hospitalization, Claudia has slowly built back strength in the left side of her body. She’s now playing basketball and even playing her oboe, despite her broken ribs. Claudia has yet to return to school, but she will begin her outpatient therapy sessions next Monday.
Although doctors initially thought Claudia would reside in the hospital for three months, Claudia was discharged only three weeks later. She still has to wear a neck brace, but that hasn’t stopped her from living a normal life.
“It’s a C-collar and it helps my neck because my neck was broken, and it helps make sure my head is upright,” Claudia explained.