Karen Eskin received a call from her neighbor saying there had been an accident at the carpool line at Chimneyrock Elementary and her seven-year-old son Brendan was hurt. “I had no idea that it was life-threatening. I just assumed he had a bump on his head or something,” she said.

When Karen turned the corner onto Chimeyrock Road, there were ambulances and fire engines everywhere. “When I finally got to Brendan he was face-down in the road with a two-foot trail of blood coming out of his head. He wasn't moving. They wouldn't let me go to him,” she said.

Brendan was air-lifted to Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center. He had a fractured skull, a badly broken leg, a shattered collarbone and swelling in his brain. Brendan’s injuries were so severe that his parents didn’t know if he would survive the week. That was three years ago.

Today, Brendan is a healthy and active 5th-grade student at Farmington Elementary. He loves basketball, soccer and swimming. Brendan has only positive memories of 22-day stay at Le Bonheur. He remembers nurses putting his medicine in chocolate ice cream to make it easier to take.

The Eskins are thankful for Le Bonheur. “They treated us as much as they treated Brendan,” Karen said. “There is no better place on Earth to be. If they can fix it, they will...as well and as fast as if it were their own child. We are so fortunate to have this kind of medical care available locally for our children.”

Brendan’s story of recovery and perseverance was so touching that Brendan was selected as one of 15 children to appear in a series of print ads and television and radio spots which debuted Christmas Day. The advertising campaign was created to ask the public to support Le Bonheur’s efforts in building a new state-of-the-art children’s hospital. The goal of the advertising campaign is to raise $100 million to build a new state-of-the-art children’s hospital. To date, the campaign has raised more than $64 million through corporate and private donations for the $324 million project.

You can support Brendan and other kids who are saved by our children's hospital by contributing to the Campaign to Build a New Le Bonheur.  Click here for more information about how you can make a difference in the lives of kids.

Click Here to read about more children who have benefited from Le Bonheur's excellent care.