Regardless of how amazing, careful, and loving parents are, freak accidents can happen to kids and change the entire trajectory of a family. A terrifying incident in Christiana, Tennessee, has left a 10-year-old boy on life support and a community rattled. Unfortunately, his prognosis remains grim.
The boy, Asher Sullivan, was swept into a storm drain on May 8. Asher is the son of a local school superintendent Jimmy Sullivan, who has been posting health updates on social media since the unimaginable accident occurred.
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Jimmy Sullivan detailed the freak accident on Facebook.
On May 9, Jimmy took to Facebook to explain what happened to his youngest son.
"Asher was involved in a tragic event last night after the storm. While the neighbors were helping pick up debris, putting fences back up, etc the neighborhood kids were playing in the water in the streets," he wrote.
Jimmy, the superintendent of the Rutherford County School District, according to Fox News, continued: "Somehow, Asher got caught in the storm drain and was swept under the neighborhood streets."
Ultimately, they found Asher and were able to restore a heartbeat.
Jimmy explained that Asher "eventually came out in a drainage ditch and CPR was administered for quite some time." Although his son's heartbeat was restored, the damage to Asher's body was "substantial."
Jimmy shared, "Currently, we are at Vanderbilt after being transported from Ascension. His lungs are severely damaged and he is not showing much brain activity outside of muscle jerks."
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Jimmy recently shared that 'recovery does not seem possible.'
On May 12, Jimmy shared via Facebook that Asher had a "really really rough night" due to issues with his pulse, blood pressure, and breathing. An MRI also showed that part of his brain herniated into his brain stem and there was "severe damage" to nearly all areas of his brain.
He added, "Despite what we were seeing with Asher each moment, we still were hoping against all odds. Unfortunately, the worst case scenarios seemed to have come true. He’s not in imminent danger at this very moment, but recovery does not seem possible."
Asher's dad has posted more health updates on social media.
Since then, Jimmy has offered several more health updates. He shared on May 13, that his son "stopped having any breaths on his own and that his eyes weren’t responsive anymore."
On May 14, Jimmy noted that Asher "had some issues with blood pressure but his brain stem was able to control his temperature today."
He added, "Asher’s brain is severely damaged. The reality is that the things Asher could do before, he will not be able to do if he recovers (without unexplainable healing). We will love and cherish any version of Asher we are blessed to keep if that is what is best for Asher."
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A GoFundMe campaign has been started to help the Sullivan family.
In the wake of Asher's freak accident, a GoFundMe campaign was started to help the Sullivan family.
"We are thinking this offering will help with food and travel as the family are away from home to be by Asher," the description reads. "If you feel led to give this will be a blessing for this family. The main thing they need is prayer."
As of writing, the campaign has surpassed its $30,000 goal and raised more than $34,000.
