Miracle as rodeo star's son wakes up after being declared braindead
A rodeo star's toddler son has woken up in hospital three days after he almost drowned playing at their property. Three-year-old Levi Wright drove his toy tractor into a river about 6pm on Tuesday at their home in Milford, Utah, and vanished under the water. Levi's mother dove in to save him, then raced him to hospital where doctors restored his heartbeat, but he never regained consciousness.
However, before long, Levi began to show signs of progress and tests were scheduled for the weekend to assess his brain function. Then late on Thursday night, Levi woke up, according to his mother Kallie Wright, who is by his bedside at Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City with her husband Spencer. 'LEVI WOKE UP! I am shook, we don't know much but the doctor said it was okay for me to get excited about that and I AM! My baby is so tough!' she wrote. 'He got a little wild so we had to settle him down again but my heart!'
Kallie added a few hours earlier that Levi had an MRI scheduled for Friday, which would provide more details about his condition. Family friend Mindy Sue Clark said Levi's EEG monitor showed activity when his sister Steeley called him on a video chat on Thursday afternoon. 'Same thing happened when we played him the dinosaur sounds from one of his favorite dinosaur books, and then again when Kallie gave him kisses,' she wrote.
Spencer Wright's family is among the most prominent in the history of rodeo, and his father, Bill Wright, was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame. Spencer is ranked 35th in the world, and his siblings are also renowned athletes in the sport. Clark on Wednesday said the family 'received multiple small miracles' and doctors were 'surprised by the strides he has made'.
'He is fevering so they're keeping him really cold which is hard to watch, I can just hear him saying, "Mommy, I'm pretty cold'',' she wrote. 'He is getting an EEG, to monitor any brain activity and we haven't heard much on what they're seeing yet. They've also started him on antibiotics. We miss our other babies, Mom hasn't spent a night away from baby until now but Brae and Steeley are in the best hands! The doctors and staff here at primaries have been outstanding! We don't know what the future holds, please don't let prayers for my baby dim or his story become old news! Keep praying for him.'
When Levi drove into the river, the person who called 911 frantically told the dispatcher that they couldn't see him under the fast-moving currents. Kallie realized he had sneaked off and ran to the river, and jumped into the currents to save him, with her friend saying she 'was the one who found him, she got him out'. A huge response of rescue teams from the Beaver County Sheriff's Office, the Utah Highway Patrol, the Beaver County Search and Rescue team, and Beaver firefighters were quickly on the scene.
The crews administered life-saving efforts before an ambulance raced him to Beaver County hospital, and he was later airlifted to Salt Lake City via helicopter. Clark told ABC4 at the time that he was being cared for at Salt Lake City Hospital, but unless he makes a dramatic recovery, he was not expected to survive. 'He has a will to breathe, but his sweet little brain was without oxygen too long and there is no coming back from that,' the family said.
Clark continued: 'We cuddled him all night and feel strongly that his spirit is no longer with us. We can’t be selfish and drag this out for days, he doesn’t deserve that. Shortly we will stop care and hold him close until his last breath on earth. My Baby, my beans, Mom & Dad love you always and forever!' Clark previously told Fox13Now that after Levi was admitted to hospital, his uncle had been tickling his feet for a response, that led him to 'open his eyes a few times', however he did not recover further.
'Even though Levi is such a sweet and tender-hearted little boy, he's a boy through and through, he's a cowboy through and through, he's a Wright through and through,' she said at the time. Clark described Levi as the 'sweetest, kindest little boy,' adding: 'He will tell you he is a T-Rex, and he is as strong as a T-Rex.' ProRodeo chief executive Tom Glause said in a statement, 'The entire ProRodeo community’s heart aches for the Wright family. We will continue to hold them in our thoughts and prayers.'
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