In praise of hope
When it comes to defying the odds, 9-year-old Lilly Barnett and her family are champions. Lilly didn’t win the lottery, and she doesn’t have millions in the bank.
What she did took far more than luck.
Lilly has battled back from injuries that nearly killed her. Her ribs were broken; her liver bruised. Worst of all, her brain was torn, leaving her in a deep coma. Her head injury was so severe, in most cases it’s fatal.
As the days passed, new problems arrived. Fluid was retained. Pressure in the brain increased. A lung collapsed. Worst of all, there was no way to tell if Lilly’s brain will recover.
It’s hard to imagine what goes through a mother’s mind, day after day, on the long drive home from A.I duPont Hospital in Wilmington when her tiny child lies limp and motionless. At home, Lilly’s sister is waiting, healthy and whole, yet worried and frightened, also in need of her parents’ attention.
Somehow, as Lilly struggled to hang onto life, her family learned to navigate from Milton, where the battle was to keep life normal, to intensive care in Wilmington, where every day brought a new crisis.
After nearly five long months in the hospital, Lilly’s family, armed primarily with hope, brought her home. Today, three months and hundreds of hours of therapy later, she is walking, talking and back in school one day a week.
Lilly is a fighter, and clearly, courage and determination run in the family. Her parents spent every available moment at Lilly’s side, and they brought her home even when it meant hauling her back to Wilmington daily for therapy.
Just a few years ago, Lilly’s recovery was inconceivable; it was thought that once brain cells were damaged or destroyed, they could never be replaced. Lilly’s recovery demonstrates newer thinking: The brain has an amazing ability, given time and effort, to reinvent itself and overcome even severe injury.
Lilly still has a long way to go, but her determination to come this far and the unwavering support of her family should inspire all of us.
Life is not always easy, but it’s always worth fighting for.
