Earlier this month, a 3-year old girl suffered a traumatic brain injury after being dropped on her head by another child at a daycare in Ponca City.

June 8 was an ordinary day for Brianna Walton as she dropped her daughters off at daycare before heading to work. Shortly after 1:30 pm, she received a call from the daycare notifying her that her daughters were sick, and that her 3-year old, Natalie, had an altercation with an older boy at the daycare. This was the second such altercation with this older child, who claimed they both tripped, but other children who witnessed what occurred indicated that wasn’t the case, and that Natalie was picked up and thrown down by this older child. The older child has since been suspended from the daycare.

When Brianna arrived at the daycare, Natalie was nauseous and complaining of a headache. Additionally, Brianna noticed Natalie had speckled bruising on her right cheek.

During the drive home, Natalie continued to complain of a headache and vomited in the backseat. Concluding her daughter suffered a concussion, Brianna drove her to the closest hospital, Stillwater Medical in Blackwell.

A CT scan was performed and it was revealed that Natalie had a skull fracture and brain bleed.

“There’s not really a word to describe what that feels like. It kind of took my breath away and panic set in,” said Brianna Walton.

Brianna and husband Russell were informed that Natalie would need to be life-flighted to OU Children’s Hospital in Oklahoma City. After eight attempts during which Natalie struggled, the medial team were able get an IV into her. This IV was required for anti-seizure medication that would be administered during flight. Brianna and Russel drove to Oklahoma City as neither were able to ride on the helicopter with their daughter.

“It was the longest hour drive of our life, we didn’t know if she was in the air, or in surgery. We didn’t know. We had so many questions and no answers,” said Brianna.

By the time the Waltons arrived, Natalie was already in the ER, and the medical team had already performed a CT, an x-ray, and stabilized Natalie’s cervical spine.

The neurosurgeon told Brianna that Natalie had a traumatic brain injury and that, with its location, the biggest concern would be the loss of motor function to Natalie’s left side of her body, seizures, and even death. Natalie had a significant hematoma of about 5 cm in size, and a large incision would be needed to remove it all at once.

“There was no way to explain to Natalie what was going on. It was a very traumatic experience,” said Brianna. “The doctor pulled me out of the room and told be they would have to start an incision from her hairline to ponytail to remove the hematoma.”

At this point, it seemed that Natalie would enter surgery in the morning, but staff were on standby in the event her condition changed. Natalie was taken to the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) on the 6th floor.

“At 11 to midnight, we got settled in and stayed up praying over Natalie, asking God for a miracle to save our baby,” said Brianna, “She could have died, or been left without mobility on her left side. There were so many things that could’ve happened.”

Around 6:30 am on June 9, a nurse came to draw Natalie’s blood, and told the parents that the surgery would likely take place at 2 pm that day.

“I don’t think we wanted to believe things were as bad as they were. It was obvious something was wrong, but if you didn’t know [Natalie] I don’t know if you could tell she had a brain injury,” said Brianna.

An hour later, and the neurosurgeons spoke amongst each other to figure out the next step and tried to determine what condition Natalie was in. They held off on surgery since Natalie was not in critical condition, and she was moved to the surgical floor for monitoring. Another CT scan was performed, and it was observed that her hematoma was not bleeding and had started to heal itself.

On June 10, Natalie began complaining of a headache again and she vomited, an indication there could be pressure on her brain. Another CT scan showed that nothing had changed, at this point Natalie had a 50% chance of going back to surgery.

“We thought we did it, we made it. But then they put her back on that gray line,” said Brianna.

On June 11, Natalie was released and she went home with her parents.

When she left the hospital, she was unable to walk properly, she was also completely potty trained before the injury, but has lost that knowledge. Her injury also means that Natalie is limited in her activities, including restrictions such as no running, jumping, climbing or bouncing.

Presently, the Ponca City Police Department is investigating the initial cause of Natalie’s injury.

The family currently has a GoFundMe page entitled “Please read Natalie’s story!” to help cover medical expenses. Additionally, a golf scramble fundraiser is being held at the Blackwell Municipal Golf Course on Friday, June 30. Those looking to participate can do so by calling 580-363-1228 or 580-401-5829 to register.

Brianna has shared that Natalie has been showing signs of improvement, event standing up unaided, but the process has been slow, and the family will need to take her back for further CT scans and blood work about twice a month.