Family Hopeful As Son Recovers From Brain Injury Following Accident On Lake
TARRANT COUNTY (CBS 11 NEWS) - Two Tarrant County educators are facing a tough test in the coming weeks. Their son is recovering from a traumatic brain injury that happened during a recent boating accident.
But the Faulkner family isn't going through the ordeal alone: it seems the entire Mansfield community is praying for Tre.
After nine days in the trauma intensive care unit at Children's Medical Center in Dallas, it's the small things that matter most to Todd and Jennifer Faulkner.
"Seenig his pretty eyes open. I missed him a lot. That was such a blessing. And him squeezing our hand a little," said Jennifer and Todd.
It's small signs like this that show their eight year old son is fighting his way back, from a traumatizing accident.
The family and some friends were out on Joe Pool Lake celebrating a birthday on September 1st. Four boys were riding in a tube, as Todd towed them across the water, when another boat came directly at them at a high rate of speed.
The father tried to avoid a crash, but the other boat collided directly with the tube, and Tre was hit the hardest.
He's spent the last week and a half hooked up to machines in the hospital, as doctors work to save his life and restore his brain function.
"Being hit by a boat at that rate of speed—it's really unbelievable," said Jennifer.
The Faulkners have found they have the help not only of doctors, friends and family to get through this time, but lots of prayer.
Jennifer and Todd both work for the Mansfield Independent School District – Todd in technology, and Jennifer as a high school algebra teacher.
A friend set up a "Pray for Tre" Facebook page where people can go for updates. A fellow teacher had "Pray for Tre" t-shirts made, which students and teachers helped sell to raise money in support of the family.
Thousands have begun praying, even strangers.
"We're overwhelmed. There's not many words to say or emotions to feel to show what it means for so many people to reach out to one little family and our child," said Todd.
(©2013 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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