'He's here and he's a miracle': 4 months after being hit by car, student still recovering
FLAT ROCK - Four months ago, it was Valentine's Day, usually a day filled with love and joy for Joseph Levi and his wife, Lanta Galloway, but it turned into a day of shock, worry and horror.
Their then 13-year-old son, Aidan Burnette, a student at Flat Rock Middle School, got off the bus that day and all was fine. But he ended up going back across the street as the bus was leaving to check the mail. That's when tragedy struck. Witnesses say Burnette ran in front of an oncoming car and was hit.
According to the North Carolina Highway Patrol, the driver of the car was not at fault and no charges were filed.
Galloway spoke to the Times-News on June 28 to give an update on her son, who is now 14, and everything that's happened since that day. Her son was in the intensive care unit from Feb. 14-June 6 and was then transferred to a rehabilitation facility.
He was on track to finally be back home the week of June 26, but doctors believed further tests and treatments were needed. He was then sent to Levine Children's Hospital in Charlotte, Galloway said. Doctors there say Aidan could be able to come back home by the first week in July.
As far as making a full recovery, Galloway said doctors said that their son still has "a long way to go."
Valentine's Day 2023
"It's a day we will never forget," she said. "It was Valentine's Day. It was me, my husband and our three younger kids at home. My neighbor called me, and I could barely make out what she said. All I heard was 'Aidan got hit.' I was trying to get my shoes on, and my husband said, 'What's going on? What's going on?' And I said, 'Aidan got hit by a car.'"
Galloway said her husband got into his truck and took off to go to the bus stop. She said she made her way out of the house and ran down a hill to get to the bus stop.
"I get down there, and my husband is squatted down next to Aidan, and I stopped. I think I was in shock," she said. "A few times, I had to bend over, because it felt like I was going to pass out."
As paramedics were working on their son, Galloway said she told her husband she was going to ride in the ambulance to the hospital.
"He said, 'You can't.' I said, 'Why?' And he said, 'MAMA is coming,'" Galloway said.
MAMA is Mission Hospital's helicopter, and the letters stand for Mountain Area Medical Airlift.
"When you hear MAMA, you know it's serious," Galloway said. "So, when my husband got down there, Aidan wasn't moving. He had to tilt Aidan's head to the side. EMS got there, and they had to suck the blood out of his mouth and nose for him to get some air."
When they got to Mission, doctors told them they had to do emergency surgery on their son.
"They had to remove part of his skull," Galloway said. "That was to stop his brain from swelling. If they didn't do that, it could cause a stroke and it could kill him."
It was the first of a total of eight surgeries for Aidan over the course of four months.
The extent of the injuries
The force from the car and from him hitting the pavement caused multiple traumatic injuries for Aidan, Galloway said.
"He's had his two shoulder blades fractured, his left collarbone fractured, a small puncture wound in his left side and two fractures in his pelvis. His femur on his right leg broke at an angle where it went through. He had to have two screws put in it to stabilize it. Now he has a metal rod in his right leg,"
Studebt struck by car: Student struck by car after getting off school bus remains in critical condition
Galloway said her son had to have a trach and also a feeding tube put in. While getting food from the feeding tube, she said her son was vomiting.
"They found out he had fluid on the brain," she said. "They had to put a shunt in, which is a tube that goes to his head and under his skin to his stomach to drain the fluid, and it's permanent."
'He's here and he's a miracle'
Galloway said her son was scheduled to come home June 6, but it wasn't meant to be.
"His left eye is half open and his right eye is starting to open, and when you'd ask him a question, it would take about 15-20 seconds before he'd give you a thumbs up," she said.
So doctors decided it was best to send Aidan to Levine's Children's Hospital in Charlotte for further tests and treatments.
"He's now supposed to be coming home July 6," Galloway said.
The family has suffered both mentally and financially with medical bills still pouring in, Galloway said. After the accident happened, Levi started a GoFundMe page at this link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/please-help-my-13-year-old-son-was-hit-by-a-car. As of June 29, the total amount of funds raised is at $14,067, and the goal is $20,000.
"The community has been really great about all this, and I can't even tell them how much we appreciate everything," Galloway said. "There's just no words to show gratitude for everything, like helping with the kids or helping with anything."
Dean Hensley is the news editor for the Hendersonville Times-News. Email him with tips, questions and comments at DHensley@gannett.com. Please help support this kind of local journalism with a subscription to the Hendersonville Times-News.
This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: After being hit by car, Flat Rock Middle student continues to recover
