‘Every moment is a fight.’ After surviving paralysis twice, 4-year-old faces another hurdle
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REXBURG — A local 4-year-old who was paralyzed for the second time in his life after a crash in September continues to persevere through challenges that would beat down even the toughest of adults. Now, he needs a pacemaker.
“Every moment is a fight, but he’s showing resilience as much as he can,” says Katherine Grover, Carter’s mom.
On Sept. 22, Carter’s grandmother, Laurie Peterson, was driving him to his physical therapy appointment, which he goes to three times a week in Rexburg, when she suffered a medical emergency while driving near the intersection on Salem Road at 3000 North.
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“She suffered a stroke that led to her being unable to stop properly at the stop sign and was hit by another oncoming vehicle. It did, unfortunately, involve a hay-baler,” Grover says. “We do feel like the vehicle rolled, but we aren’t sure. They were both wearing seatbelts at the time.”
Carter and his grandmother were both transported to EIRMC, with Peterson suffering multiple strokes, leaving her in critical condition in the ICU at EIRMC. Since our last update, Peterson has been released from the hospital and is recovering steadily every day.
“She’s healing properly, her brain activity is excellent,” Grover says. “She’s doing really good. She’s walking around and being more independent every day.”
Carter was severely injured in the crash, leaving him paralyzed for the second time in his life, after overcoming paralysis as a baby.
GoFundMe | Help support Carter’s Healing Journey
At seven months old, Carter contracted a virus as a complication from COVID-19, which caused him to become paralyzed from the neck down. He had recently overcome much of the paralysis and begun running until the crash.
Following the crash in Rexburg, Carter was airlifted to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City. He suffered a spinal cord tear in the C1 and C2 of his spine, and damaged his C5 and C6, resulting in paralysis from the neck down and an inability to breathe on his own.
“We have been in the hospital since the accident, surrounded by machines and doctors working around the clock to keep him stable,” says Grover. “Things are getting hard, the weight of medical expenses, traveling costs between state to state, long-term care needs, preparing to move here to give Carter what he needs, and we just need help.”
According to Grover, Carter recently had a major health scare when his heart stopped, causing doctors to now evaluate his medical needs and prepare him to receive a pacemaker at only four years old.
“He had the spinal fusion surgery, and then he had a (tracheostomy) surgery. Then he had another surgery to help stabilize his spine,” Grover says. “He’s had multiple surgeries. Recently, we’ve faced another challenge, and now he needs a pacemaker to help regulate his heart.”
Grover says doctors believe that due to his spinal injury, his brain has stopped communicating correctly with his heart.
“His heart stopped, so they resuscitated him, and they were doing compressions for four minutes. He was okay for a moment, and then (his heart) stopped again, and then they had to continue doing compressions,” Grover says. “So now anytime they do any breathing treatments or move him, his heart rate drops down to 30, which is not good. His brain can’t send the proper message down to his heart to say, ‘Hey, just beat regularly.'”
Grover says the emotional and physical toll has been overwhelming on her and her family, causing her to be forced to quit her job and try to make plans to move to Salt Lake City in order to be closer to the specialists and treatments that Carter requires.
“He is in a very uncomfortable and painful state at this moment, so he hasn’t been sleeping at night. But he is all cognitively there, and his brain activity is completely normal for a four-year-old,” Grover says. “He’s just really scared.”
Carter’s mom says she and the doctors are worried about his mental health and hope to be able to get him a pacemaker as soon as possible.
“They’re worried that he’s just going to give up,” Grover says.
On top of all of this, not only is Grover a single mom to Carter, but also his older brother William, who has been worried about his brother as he stays with family back in Idaho Falls.
“I’m a single parent and I’m trying to manage everything by myself, and it’s not easy,” Grover says. “My little family’s just broken right now and we’re doing everything we can. (William) wants to be with his mom and his little brother because that’s what he’s used to.”
A GoFundMe has been set up to help Grover and her family with travel costs and Carter’s medical needs. Click here to donate.
The family hopes to raise $300,000 to get them back on their feet and provide Carter with the medical support he requires.
“Our family’s just so broken, and I’m trying to find a home where I can bring my son, so he can be with me and my other son,” Grover says. “I have to just maintain as best as I can.”