3-year-old Blackwell girl continues to fight after traumatic brain injury

The doctor calmly walked into the hospital room where three-year-old Natalie Walton was lying in bed. It seemed as if she would have good news for the girl’s family.

Instead, the doctor said Natalie had a fractured skull and brain bleeding, and she would have to be taken via helicopter to the OU Children’s Hospital in Oklahoma City.

“I felt like I was going to pass out, and every bit of air that was in my body left,” said Brianna Walton, the girl’s mother. “Panic set in. There’s not a word to describe that feeling, when you’re looking at your child and you don’t know what that means for them. Is she going to die? Is she going to be OK?”

June 8 was a fearful day for the Walton family, which lives in Blackwell. Their daughter sustained a traumatic brain injury after being hurt at daycare. Nearly two weeks later, Natalie has overcome the odds and made strides toward recovery. But her battle isn’t over yet, her family said.

A PHONE CALL

Brianna Walton took her daughters Natalie and Eloise to daycare in Ponca City on June 8. At 1:39 p.m., she got a phone call from the daycare center, saying her daughters appeared to be sick to their stomachs – and that a boy at the daycare had tripped Natalie. Natalie and the 9-year-old boy had previously been in an altercation, and the daycare informed Walton that the boy was dismissed after the latest incident, Walton said.

When Walton arrived, she found a mark on Natalie’s cheek, and Natalie complained of pain in her head. The family got in the car to come home to Blackwell, and Natalie began throwing up.

“Everything was consistent with a concussion. I became pretty concerned at that point,” Walton said. “I thought, worst case scenario, [it was] a concussion.”

Walton called her husband and took the girls to Stillwater Medical Center – Blackwell. There, she urged the medical staff to perform a CT scan of her daughter’s head, which revealed the skull fracture and brain bleeding.

“I don’t have words to describe how hard it is to process information like that,” Walton said. “I was terrified, absolutely terrified, for my daughter.”

While waiting for the medical helicopter to arrive, medical staff tried to put IVs in Natalie’s arms, but they blew out seven of her veins in the process. The eighth attempt was successful, allowing Natalie to get the anti-seizure medication she’d need for the flight to Oklahoma City, Walton said.

‘IT BROKE OUR HEARTS’

Walton and her husband, Russell, drove to the children’s hospital, where they found medical staff hovering around her in the emergency room. When hospital staff began giving Natalie medicine, she kicked, bit and screamed at them. Brianna, Russell and the nurses held Natalie to the table while her spine was stabilized.

“There was probably a good hour there where we just had to fight Natalie’s body until Natalie’s body quit fighting us,” Walton said. “It broke our hearts to have to put her through that. She didn’t understand. She couldn’t understand why she was hurting or why anything was happening.”

After Natalie was stabilized, one of the hospital neurosurgeons told Walton that Natalie would have to go in for a surgery to remove a hematoma, a mass of clotted blood, in her brain. The surgical team was planning to cut open the right side of her skull from her brow bone to the back of her head. The surgeon also warned that a part of her skull may have to remain off for some time after the operation, which was set for the next day, June 9.

The medical team took more X-rays of Natalie. That’s when Walton learned that the boy at the daycare did more than trip Natalie. He dropped her on her head, and she landed on her shoulder, Walton said.

After the X-rays were taken, Natalie was rushed to the pediatric intensive care unit. The surgery that would cut into her skull seemed inevitable – and time was drawing closer.

“There was not a single ounce of strength in the room between us,” Walton said, her voice choking up. “Russell and I were just looking at our baby, wondering if she was going to live or die.”

A PRAYER OF FAITH

When the clock struck midnight, a nurse came into Natalie’s room to tell her parents the surgery was set for 2 p.m. Brianna and Russell stayed awake for the rest of the night, sitting at the foot of Natalie’s bed.

They spent hours researching the procedure Natalie was set to undergo. From what they read online, Brianna said, Natalie had a 15% chance of dying on the operating table. But even if the surgery was successful, she had only a 5% chance of fully recovering from the injury and the surgery.

That’s when Brianna prayed.

“I said, ‘God, I know that you can make miracles happen, that you can move heaven and earth, and I know that you can help my baby,” she prayed. “’You can bring us a miracle in the morning. I know you can do that.’”

And when morning dawned, her prayer was answered. Medical staff ran a series of tests, discovering that the bleeding in her brain had stopped – and that the hematoma was already beginning to dissolve, fewer than 24 hours after Natalie was injured. Normally, hematomas can take days or weeks to dissolve. The surgery, tentatively, was called off.

“Somebody came in and said, ‘This is nothing short of a miracle that your kid doesn’t have to go through this,’” Walton said.

After two more days in the hospital, Natalie was released to go home.

BACK ON HER FEET

Since bringing Natalie home, Brianna has been watching her daughter and caring for her ‘round the clock. And slowly but surely, Natalie is recovering. She’s regaining her ability to walk, and she is finding her balance again, Walton said.

“Unless you knew Natalie, you would never know today that she even suffered a traumatic brain injury or that she was even healing from one,” Walton said. “Natalie is crossing all of her markers. She actually has a neuro appointment on the 21st, and I think they’re just going to be absolutely blown away by her progress.”

The next few months will be filled with medical appointments. To that end, the family is seeking donations to help with expenses. Families who want to donate money can visit the GoFundMe page, titled “Please read Natalie’s story!” It can be found by visiting https://gofund.me/26ab650f.

An upcoming golf tournament also aims to raise money for the family’s expenses. The Golf Scramble Benefit #NatalieStrong is set for June 30 at the Blackwell Municipal Golf Course. Registration begins at 4 p.m., and the tournament begins at 5 p.m. Registration costs $50 per person or $200 per team.

Food will be sold at the event, and a raffle will take place as well. Prizes will be awarded, and for $100, people can sponsor a hole. To inquire about registration and sponsorship, call 580-363-1228 or 580-401-5829.

Although Natalie has more healing to do, her family is hoping and praying for a complete recovery.

“I know that Natalie’s situation could have been so much worse than it was,” Walton said. “The first day we went in, she was in critical condition. The next day, God had put His actual healing hands on her. You can’t tell me otherwise, that God has not put His hands on my baby. There’s a night and day difference today than on the first day. She is truly blessed. I think she has a testimony that she is going to be able to share with the world for the rest of her life.”