Tiffany Rivera thought little of it when her 11-year-old son fell off his bike.
While young Jaden hadn't been wearing a helmet at the time, he seemed to have escaped with just a scraped knee and below.
“He showed no signs of trauma and continued about his day,” the Florida-based mum wrote on a recent Facebook post.
However, two days later, little Jaden started to show signs that all was not right. He woke up lethargic with a headache and, to mum Tiffany, “not his normal self at all.”
The boy wouldn’t eat and just wanted to lie down.
Hoping that would sort him out,Tiffany let him do just that – until she spotted a strange “squishy” spot on Jaden’s temple.
That’s when she started to panic, and took him to the hospital.
“The moment I had Jaden in the car he started vomiting,” she said. “Once Jaden arrived at Saint Mary’s Children’s hospital, a CT scan was done. The diagnosis was right temporal fracture of the skull and right temporal epidural hematoma.”
And the condition was as worrying as it sounds.
The little boy had to undergo emergency surgery immediately and only had a 50/50 chance of survival.
Doctors performed a craniotomy on the child over two-and-a-half hours, and removed the hematoma. They then used a wire mesh to repair the fracture.
“We were told by the surgeon and other doctors that it was a miracle he survived,” she said. “All other cases the kids never came out of surgery.”
“On April 5th, Jaden turned with almost no permanent damage or disability. My family and I would like to thank the Trauma Surgical Team and PICU at Saint Mary’s Children’s hospital in West Palm Beach Florida.”
After the terrifying ordeal, Tiffany took to Facebook to help other parents avoid a similar scare, or even worse.
“I am telling you this in hopes to raise awareness for all children and adults why you need to wear a helmet,' wrote Tiffany.
"Help others be aware of the dangers of riding without the proper safety equipment. This can happen to anyone! The injuries my son had were equal to those in a motorcycle accident!”
Along with her post, the mother included photos of Jaden every step of the way, from the ailing boy at the hospital to after the surgery to the 32 staples they placed in his head. The last photo shows Jaden having had the staples removed on April 13.
The emotional post swiftly took off online, her story connecting with thousands of readers. To date, the post has been shared more than 28,000 times online.
You can read Tiffany's post in full below.
SHARE to spread the word that helmets save lives.
