Our Grandson Easton

By MarJean Bowles Oliverson

          

  Last year, our grandson Easton’s baseball team from Santa Clara, Utah, earned the right to go to Williamsport, Pennsylvania to play in the Little League World Series.  His Dad (our son Jace) was one of the coaches and was there to cheer him on. 

            The sleeping accommodations for the boys were dormitories built specifically for the Little League World Series.  The beds were tall and narrow.  The top bunk Easton lay on was 4 feet wide, 7 feet high from the ground without a ladder or guardrail.  During the early hours of August 15^th, 2022 about 2 a.m., Easton rolled over and crashed to the concrete floor, covered by carpet squares.  No one heard him fall and he was unconscious for about 20 minutes.  When he woke, he started to cry and a teammate heard him.  The teammates ran for their coach and the coach ran to find Jace. 

Easton told his Dad he was going to throw up.  He did and then fell unconscious, speaking no more.  He had a fractured skull and a severed artery, bleeding between his skull and brain, causing a great deal of pressure.  Easton was life-flighted to Geisinger Children’s Trauma 1 Hospital in Dansville, Pennsylvania. 

When they heard of Easton’s accident, both of Jace’s brothers Derek and Jeff flew to Pennsylvania to be with Jace.  Easton’s mother Nancy got a flight right away and headed there as soon as possible.  When Easton arrived at Geisinger Hospital, a team of 20 people were waiting for him.  Two surgeons, well-renowned in the country, had never worked a graveyard shift until that night.  We feel that was the first of many miracles we witnessed. 

As Easton was taken into surgery, the doctor told Jace to give him a kiss good-bye, because they were giving him Zero chance to come through the surgery. 

Easton would undergo two surgeries while at Geisinger hospital.  One to remove a portion of his skull to give the swelling in his brain a chance to heal.  The second was to put the piece of skull back that they had removed.  After 2.5 weeks, Easton was flown on a medical plane to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City.  On the day he was to be released to come home, they discovered he had an infection in his head.  He then underwent a third surgery, where they removed the skull cap again to clean out the infection. 

It was questionable whether the skull cap would heal properly.  If it did not, it would need to be removed and an artificial skull cap put in place.  Thanks to many prayers and miracles, it healed on its own. 

Numerous emails of love, concern, encouragement, and prayers from across the world were offered as the story was reported on national and local news for a month.  One email writer said, “I can’t believe this has happened AGAIN.”  With further investigation, his son had the same injury at the same place, off the top bunk.  Other numerous injuries have occurred because of these bunkbeds as far back as 2015.  Legal measures are being taken, in hopes it does not happen again.

Every time Jace was interviewed on national TV, (which happened several times) he testified of the power of Prayer and that a loving Heavenly Father knows and loves us individually. 

What have we learned through our tears and smiles? 

That people are good.  We have had countless prayers, kindnesses, gifts from our community and strangers around the world.  Special gifts from individual baseball players and teams adorn his room.  Kevin and I are so grateful to still have this beautiful, good boy with us and know it is because of the power of prayer and the will of our Heavenly Father. 

If I outlined all of the miracles we saw, this writing would be pages long.

Behold, I will show unto you a God of miracles, even the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and it is that same God who created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are.       Mormon 9: 11