This story originally appeared in the May 21, 2008 issue of the Montezuma Republican. Click here to see a scan of the paper itself. The scan is a little small, so is reprinted below.

The little miracle boy and a mother who could

A brain injury hasn't slowed down 12-year-old Murphy VanWilligen, and his mother, Carlie, who live every day to the fullest

By J.O. Parker, Editor (Photo by J.O. Parker)

Murphy VanWilligen is no different than most 12-year-old boys.

He enjoys playing ball with the other kids, riding the school bus, being included with what's going on and filling one of the compartments of his school lunch tray with ketchup - lots of ketchup.

"I've never wanted anybody to feel sorry for him," said his mother, Carlie, referring to her son's brain injury. "He's so happy. He is one of the happiest children I've ever known."

When Murphy was six months old, he and Carlie, who now live at Lake Ponderosa, were traveling on Interstate 80 west of Davenport when they rear-ended another vehicle, which was backing up in the passing lane of the interstate.

"I didn't see him at all," said Carlie of the other car. "The car in front of me swerved over and cut off a semi. By the time I realized what was happening it was too late. I had nowhere to stop or go."

It was Jan. 23, 1996 and Carlie was traveling from Davenport to Grinnell to attend the memorial service of her father, Carol, who had died three days earlier. Luckily for Carlie, an Iowa Highway Patrol officer traveling eastbound on the interstate saw the accident and rushed to their aid.

"If the state trooper had not been on the other side of the road it would have been my fault," said Carlie.

The accident caused the airbags to deploy, striking Murphy in the head. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors checked him over, assuring Carlie that everything was OK. The two were sent home with a clean bill of health.

By the next day Carlie noticed a change in Murphy. He slept continuously and would only wake up for minutes at a time. He also quit eating and was spitting up his formula.

"He would eat and it would come right back up," recalled Carlie.

She took Murphy to the hospital emergency room. He was checked over and admitted. After two days and no improvement, Murphy was airlifted to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City.

During the next week numerous tests were performed and a course of medication given, that Carlie said "seemed to bring my baby back to life."

Murphy was released, but within two weeks was re-admitted to University Hospitals.

"I thought things would get better," said Carlie. "As it turns out, I was wrong."

The neurosurgeon said Murphy should have never been sent home. He had three blood clots (hematoma) on the right side of his brain, which were continuing to bleed into his brain cavity. Carlie said Murphy's only chance of surviving was surgery. He needed a shunt placed in his head that would allow the fluid on his brain to drain into his stomach.

Doctors told Carlie that she needed to prepare herself for the fact that Murphy might not walk, talk or be able to do anything for himself. In spite of the grim prognosis, all Carlie wanted for Murphy was for him to be happy and to be healthy.

Before surgery could be scheduled, doctors needed to remove excess blood off his brain. Daily for the next three weeks, doctors would put a needle in the cranium of his head and draw out blood. On April 8 (Carlie’s birthday) surgery was performed and the shunt was placed in the back of his brain.

The surgery was a success. Within two hours of the surgery, Murphy was released from pediatric intensive care and placed in his own room. He continued to improve, which pleased the doctors. He was released from the hospital and sent home one week later.

The neurosurgeon originally thought that Murphy would begin developing normally. That wasn’t the case. By age one, he could barely sit up. He wasn’t crawling, scooting, or walking.

“He was not very responsive to people, not even me or his grandmother,” said Carlie.

Carlie decided at that point to have him evaluated. But like a miracle from heaven, the time between the initial consultation and the actual evaluation, which was done at 15 months of age, Murphy began to respond to his environment. To this day, Carlie said that she doesn’t know what happened – what caused the change.

She thought first he might have needed time to recover from the massive physical injury. Or maybe she did something different.

“I don’t know; nor do I think I’ll ever know,” she said.

At his first evaluation, Murphy scored at an 11-month level cognitively, but only at six months in gross and fine motor skills, and at a four-month level in communication and language.

“I wasn’t devastated, I was more relieved that at least I had a starting point,” said Carlie.

Over the course of the coming days and months, Carlie and Murphy exercised, read books, played together and ate, all in an effort to help him develop his gross and fine motor skills, which in turn would help his language skills develop.

Murphy was re-evaluated at 20 months of age. Doctors were amazed at his progress. He could walk and crawl and was eating almost normally. In fact, he was walking before he was crawling.

“His speech was still delayed, but was progressing,” said Carlie. “I was overjoyed.”

Two months earlier, Murphy had started early childhood education at the Presbyterian Church through Area Education Agency (AEA) 267. When he turned three he entered preschool. At age five he started attending regular classes at Montezuma Elementary School.

Today, Murphy is in the sixth grade in Ryan VanVeen’s room. He has the equivalent of a full-time aide working with him at school, which at Carlie’s request is split between two or three people. “I figured the more people, the better he would be,” she said.

Carlie said she couldn’t be more pleased with the staff at Montezuma schools and the AEA 267.

“They’ve done a good job tailoring a program to meet his needs,” she said.

A couple of years ago, the State of Iowa developed a waiver for people with brain injuries, which Murphy receives. It provides Medicaid and in Murphy’s case, he receives community services from a Sigourney-based company called “First Resources.”

“They work to take him out into the community and work on his social skills,” said Carlie.

In March, Murphy participated in Special Olympics in Marshalltown where he placed fifth in basketball skills.

Carlie will be the first to admit that Murphy has a long way to go. Like the little miracle he is, Murphy won’t give up on life and Carlie won’t give up on Murphy.

“I don’t know how we’ve made it, but we did,” said Carlie. “Things could be so much worse. He’s healthy. I can’t tell you the last time he has had a cold.”

Murphy will enter junior high school in the fall.