This is the story of Lillian Grace Johnson who was born 11/08/06. She is a fun loving silly little girl who loves to laugh and dance any chance she can. One of the funniest things she could do was the "Billy Bob". She would make this face where she looked just like Billy Bob Thornton from the move "Sling Blade". She is our blessing from God.

Lillie's accident happened on Feb 13, 2008. She was eating lunch and choked on macaroni and cheese. Not only did she choke, but alot of the macaroni cheese aspirated into her lungs. The paramedics were called right away and CPR was performed until the paramedics arrived. As soon as they arrived to the house she was immediately intibated and rushed to Medical Center of Arlington. After being there for about an hour she was rushed to Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth. That night we were told that she had pneumonia as a result of the aspiration, but that was nothing compared to what we found out a few days later. After an MRI, we were told that she suffered a significant amount of brain damage due to the lack of oxygen to her brain, which was an estimated 8 minutes. They call this type of injury a Hypoxic brain injury. She spent 10 days in PICU and was stable enough to move to a regular room.

Of course the doctors have to tell you the worst case scenario, but she is showing great improvement. She can swallow on her own, for the most part, she can take her pacifier when she wants to and she can move all her limbs. She responds to touch, pain, cold, hot and tickles. :) At this point she is like a newborn. All we have to do is re-teach her how to do everything again and hopefully most, if not all, things will come back. Everyone we have talked to said that her age is her best friend, as far as recovery because her brain hasn't even finished developing.

I just wanted to say to anyone who is going through a traumatic event with their child or family member is to not give up. Take everything one day at a time and take everything the Dr's say with a grain of salt. They don't have the final say so. All they can tell you is what they saw on an MRI or what they have seen some other children do or not do. God works miracles everyday, especially with children, so you just HAVE to believe that your child or family member WILL be one of those miracles, because chances are, they probably will be! I just know that Lillie is a miracle in progress!

God Bless. Nathan, Alicia and Lillie Johnson

questions? email info@lilliesgrace.com