Jaxon

Reason #411: “Because they saved my son’s life.”

It was on the afternoon of August 25, 2020 after Jaxon returned home from hockey camp and took out his ATV when tragedy struck. Megan, Jaxon’s mom, was working at a long-term care facility when she received the phone call that no parent is ever ready for: “Your son was in a quadding accident and he is being airlifted to Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital in Saskatoon, please meet us there.”

Upon arriving in Saskatoon from North Battleford, Megan was told that her son was going into emergency brain surgery. While sitting in the waiting room, she was anticipating news about her son.

“I was constantly fearing that I was going to lose my son,” said Megan about how she felt at that moment.

After eight hours in the operating room, Jaxon was transferred to JPCH’s Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) unit where he would spend the next 80 days. It was while in the PICU that Jaxon’s journey forward took another turn for the worse. While on life support, Jaxon experienced a massive stroke. 

As a result of his stroke, Jaxon lost all functionality of the left-side of his body. Jaxon had to relearn how to walk, talk, and live without one entire side of his body. 

On January 11, 2021, 178 days after Jaxon’s accident, he was discharged from JPCH but that did not mark the end of Jaxon’s time at the children’s hospital. Jaxon returned to JPCH to begin his rehab consisting of physiotherapy five days a week for three hour sessions, and as his mom explained, “He had to relearn most of everything that he had learned previous to his accident as he was starting fresh with everything in his life.”

Today Jaxon is thriving because of the help he received from all the staff at JPCH. 

“It’s honestly amazing that there are so many great people out there that are working at JPCH. I don’t think they really realize how much of an impact they play on the families that are in there at the moment. Even though those were some of the darkest days I went through and all the obstacles, there were lots of people there supporting me. They were really there for me and those were the people that put a smile on my face even though I felt like my world was falling apart,” Megan said.

Jaxon’s story could have been very different if not for the dedicated children’s hospital here in Saskatchewan, because as Megan states, “I couldn’t imagine not having a children’s hospital here in the center of the province as there are so many kids and so many families that depend on it.”

What is your reason to give? Support kids like Jaxon when you donate today.