Just as we thought we could take a break from worry for awhile, McKay our 8 year old, decided that we needed just one more thing to worry about. On Sunday August 16th we had just gotten home from church and had eaten lunch together when we all decided to just relax for a little bit. McKay went out in the garage and found a .22 bullet and a lighter and wanted to know what would happen if he lit up the bullet. Well, he found out and so did we!!! I was on the phone with my sister when I heard the loud explosion, then the death cry! I went running to see what had happened. When I saw McKay with blood coming out his eye and screaming the the worst scream a mother could hear, I knew it was bad. I grabbed a towel and Steve grabbed the keys and we went frantically to the hospital. I was trying to call our friend that is a ophthalmologist while we were driving. I couldn't get a hold of him so I called the hospital to let them know we were on our way and that we were going to need an ophthalmologist as soon as we arrived. They called the doctor on call, who happened to be our friend. When we arrived at the hospital, they got us right in and our friend called us back on our phone. They did an assessment on McKay first thing and he was completely blind in his left injured eye. He could not see anything, only black. I was on the phone with our friend telling him everything we knew and anxiously asking him if McKay would have a chance of getting any sight back eventually? In a very sincere and concerned way, he told me that usually after a trauma like this, what they see right after the accident is usually what they will see in the end. Not what a mother ever wants to hear. My heart fell and I dropped the phone and started to sob. I knew if there was any chance that McKay would ever see again in that eye, it would be a miracle. I happen to believe in miracles and have witness several very real ones in our lives just recently. The doctors had done a CT Scan on his eye and found a 10 mm piece of metal shrapnel lodged in the muscle behind his eye. The bullet had exploded and a piece of the shell casing had gone through his eyelid and in the front of his eye, all the way through his eye and out the back. It was a miracle that he hadn't been killed. But it was serious enough that the doctors wanted to transfer him down to Salt Lake to Primary Children's Medical Center. As we waited for the ambulance to arrive to transport him to Salt Lake, Steve and my brother-in-law gave McKay a priesthood blessing. In the blessing it said that he would be able to see again. It said that he would have a long road ahead of him, but that he would be able to one day see out of that eye again. Oh, what a feeling of relief I felt. McKay was scared, I was scared, Steve was scared, until that blessing. Then we knew he would be okay. It was now in the Lord's hands and I knew of a surety that our Heavenly Father knew McKay and I felt the love he had for him. I knew at that time that McKay had a very special mission to complete in this life and he was not yet finished. He had been protected by heavenly angels when that bullet had exploded. I knew that if McKay needs his eye to fulfill his mission here on earth that he will get his vision back and if he doesn't need it then he will be made whole someday. It is such a relieving feeling to turn your burdens over to the Lord. He knows what is best and He will make right all the wrongs in His time. McKay was being so brave. When they would ask him if he was in pain, he would cheerfully say "NOPE". Then when no one was in the room but me, I saw a little tear fall and I ask him if he was really okay. He then said in a little shaky voice, "Mommy, it hurts really bad." I quickly went to get the nurse to give him something for the pain. They came right away to give him some pain meds, just in time to go for his first, and I hope, last ambulance ride. When we arrived at Primary Children's, they had their ophthalmology team waiting. They arranged surgery right away. The doctors had been told that he was completely blind in his left eye. As they were doing their assessments of McKay, he could see something. A little light and maybe some fingers as they held them right in front of his eye. This is not how things usually go with injuries like his. A bit of mystery to the doctors, but I knew it was a direct result of the priesthood blessing he had received right before we left Logan. They took him to do surgery to close his eye the best they could. After the surgery the doctor came to talk to us and he said he was able to stitch his eye lid and the front of his eye, but the exit wound was so far in the back that they were only able to put 1 stitch to close it. They had to leave it open and hope that it would close on it's own. If it did, then there might be a chance to save his eye. If it didn't, he would lose his eye and we would have to get a glass eye. We prayed and prayed some more. I talked to Jacob on the phone and he told me that he had gotten the other kids at home together and they had prayed together for their brother too. Our prayers were answered about a week later when they were able to finally find a measurable pressure in his eye. We took many trips to Salt Lake. Every other day for about a month. We met with many doctors. They needed to do another surgery because the scar that was closing the exit wound in the back of his eye was also causing traction on his retina and pulling it off the back of his eye. Also there was so much blood inside his eye they needed to remove. This time the surgery was done by a retina specialist. She was unsure if she would be able to save his eye during the surgery. His eye was just so damaged. She told us that it could go either way. Once again, we called upon the powers of heaven to help with this surgery. Not only did he get a priesthood blessing again, many friends and family came together and fasted for McKay to get the extra help he needed to get through this next step. August 31st was his last surgery and when the doctor came out to talk to me about how the surgery had gone, all I really heard was, "It went better than I had expected." After that, everything all meshed together. I knew our many prayers had been answered. It's not over and McKay will have many more surgeries and probably many more bad days but for now, he still has his eye and we have all been blessed to feel the love of our Savior and the blessings of the spirit in our home. We have been so blessed to have the support of a great family and many friends and neighbors that have come to our rescue many times. I have come to know that the trials we have been through has allowed us to see the good in so many people. We have also been able to witness so many miracles and the goodness of God. What a blessing that has been.
