Toddler loses foot after lawn mower accident—parents' quick action saves his life
This is the moment Brittney Walls prayed for. A sign that her little boy was going to be OK. It was something that did not seem possible only days before.
"Just as a mother, a mother of four, you know it's a lot," she said.
On Friday, 2-year-old Cohen was flown to the Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU after a terrifying accident in his father's yard earlier that evening.
"I was here and my husband called me or texted me, '911. Stop what you're doing and answer your phone,' and I answered and you could tell he was hysterical and he said, he said, 'I've run over Cohen,' and I'm like, 'What?'" Brittney Walls said.
Her husband, Kenny Walls, had been mowing the lawn while their four children played nearby, but suddenly Cohen ran up behind the mower as it was in reverse.
Nine-year-old Lakin witnessed the accident.
"Of everything she had seen, I think she's the one who screamed, 'Daddy, his leg, his leg!'" Walls said.
Lakin said she remembers what happened.
"I remember hearing, 'Oh Cohen, oh Cohen, it's OK,' and my dad just screamed," she said.
Kenny Walls immediately jumped into action, applying a tourniquet while starting first aid.
"He's been a law enforcement officer for a long time, so he has experience and, you know, he saved his life," Brittney Walls said.
Brittney, a former emergency room nurse, said she did not leave her son's side once at the hospital.
"There were probably 45 people in the hospital room and they let me stay there the whole time and I told them I wanted to be right there. I was rubbing his head and kissing him, telling him I loved him, mommy and daddy are there," she said.
Over the weekend, Cohen had two surgeries, including one to remove his right foot below the ankle.
By Monday, he was sitting up and playing with his siblings.
"I was kind of excited but also worried about him," Lakin said.
Brittney Walls said their 3-year-old offered to make "his brother a new foot with Play-Doh."
While Cohen has a long road to recovery, including future surgeries and therapy, his parents know he is a fighter.
"He's just a resilient kid and there's nothing that will hold him back and I know he'll recover from this and I think he'll do anything that a child without a missing limb could do," Brittney Walls said.
She said, despite everything, she is blessed.
"I'm a blessed mom and he's alive, so everything else I'll be there every step of the way," she said.
Cohen's recovery is expected to take several years as his body grows.
The family created a GoFundMe to help with Cohen's medical bills.
