We can childproof our houses and apartments until we’re blue in the face. There are bumpers to put on every sharp corner, covers for every electrical appliance… it feels like you’ve done everything. Kids will still find ways to get themselves in trouble. Most of the time it’s harmless… and everything turns out fine. Then there’s the horror story about Karla and Michael Rauch and their son, Emmett.
What his parents learn is that he swallowed a button battery and the acid leaked out, doing tremendous damage to his esophagus and trachea, making it next to impossible for him to breathe without a trach tube. That was when he was a year old. He and his parents then endured three more years of seemingly endless surgery after surgery, and they even wound up switching hospitals, going to Cincinnati.
The thing about Emmett is that it seems like his spirit is far from broken despite having to have his trach tube. Except for the early ones where he was fighting for his life, he’s showing an impish side, posing for pictures. He is not going to let this get him down at all. Heck, after the big operation and having the trach tube removed, he fist bumps the surgeon. At the end, he’ got a soccer uniform on, ready to play.
If this video didn’t make you want to run around the house and check the back of every single thing that you have that uses those button batteries, then I don’t know what will. 65 surgeries? Wow. I can’t fathom what Karla and Michael were feeling each time that he had the surgery. Thank goodness this operation that removed the trach and added the part of the colon seemed to be a success. Here’s hoping that irrepressible Emmett remains a force of nature for many, many decades.
What an incredible story. That team of doctors at Cincinnati Children’s hospital did a great job with Emmitt’s case. They definitely earned that fist bump from Emmitt, don’t you think? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. Also please “Like” us on Facebook.
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