Toddler Making Remarkable Recovery After Severe Beating
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A Minneapolis toddler is making a remarkable recovery in the hospital.
Rae'Ana Hall, who is just 22 months old, suffered broken bones and severe damage to the right side of her brain in early January. Investigators believe her father beat her.
To the surprise of her family, and doctors, the smiling little girl has left the intensive care unit.
Now she is doing things they never thought she would do again.
"My baby's a fighter and she's been fighting," Rae'Chelle Hall, Rae'Ana's mother, said. "The good Lord is on her side."
Rae'Ana has overcome tremendous obstacles in such a short time. She was in critical condition just three weeks ago, struggling with a severe brain injury.
"It didn't look good. It didn't look like she was going to make it," Rae'Chelle said. "I was really worried. They said she might have to have the trach tube for the rest of her life to swallow. She might not be able to swallow her own saliva."
Rae'Chelle says her toddler went from the ICU to rehab at Gillette Children's Specialty Care in St. Paul.
"Slowly but surely all of all the tubes came out! They took the breathing tubes out!" she said.
Rae'Ana is now breathing on her own, and mom says she is confident her little fighter will make a full recovery.
"She's saying all the things she could say before, she can point to all facial features, her bodily features that she knew," Rae'Chelle said. "She knows everybody. She's making little jokes and doing little silly things like she use to do, playing with our noses."
Pictures captured Rae'Ana's first meal not delivered through a tube.
"She was just on the feeding tube which came out last night. You know, they were going to take it out probably today, but she pulled it out last night," she said.
Rae'Chelle says it is a miracle her daughter is doing so well.
"Them prayers. All them prayers," Rae'Chelle said.
And she is thankful for all the support she has received from family and the community.
"I want you guys to know that I love you all and I just thank you and really appreciate all the help and support that you've been giving me and my daughter," she said.
Rae'Ana's father, 21-year-old Ticortier Collins, has been charged with first-degree assault in connection with her injuries.
Prosecutors say he told several different stories about what happened to the toddler. Investigators say her injuries did not happen accidentally.
A fund has been set up to help Rae'Chelle stay by her daughter's side during her recovery.
Click here for more information on how to help.