He woke up convinced he had seen heaven. The recovery of 13-year-old Trenton McKinley, of Alabama, is being hailed as “miraculous” after he came to from a brain dead state the day before doctors were scheduled to pull his life-support.
KTLA reports, it was two months ago that Trenton was riding in the back of small utility trailer, pulled by a dune buggy:
Trenton says his friend pressed on the breaks suddenly, causing the trailer to flip. He says he quickly threw his friend’s 4-year-old niece off into the grass, but in the process, got caught in the trailer as it flipped.
“I hit the concrete and the trailer landed on top of my head. After that, I don’t remember anything,” said Trenton.
After the accident, Trenton was taken to USA Medical Center, where he was treated for seven skull fractures. During the treatment a portion of his skull was removed and frozen, to be reattached later.
Trenton’s mother, Jennifer Reindl, recounted the terrifying ordeal: “He was dead a total of 15 minutes. When he came back, they said he would never be normal again. They told me the oxidation problems would be so bad to his brain, that he would be a vegetable if he even made it.”
What followed was several days of monitoring Trenton’s brain dead state and resuscitating the young teen when his heart stopped, which it did several times. His parents were informed that Trenton’s organs could help to save five other children in need and with heavy hearts they signed the papers.
It was not until the day before doctors were set to stop his life support that signs of consciousness were recognized. Trenton woke up and even began talking, displaying far more cognitive function than doctors could have expected, and claimed that he saw heaven. He said, “I was in an open field walking straight. There’s no other explanation but God. There’s no other way. Even doctors said it.”
Trenton still has a long road to full recovery: the young teen has lost 50 pounds, suffers seizures daily, and has not regained all of his nerve function. However, one thing that has remained intact is his sense of humor:
“I said I could turn sideways and put salsa in there and eat chips and dip out of my head. No more washing dishes for me!” laughed Trenton as he referred to the dent in his head. “She wouldn’t let me put nothing in it though. I really wanted to see if I could.”
His mother also noted that the color of Trenton’s eyes has changed. She said, “He had blue eyes. Now they are green with small white specks like glitter. They say when you look upon God…pigment changes…and my baby was in heaven for a whole day….he is a miracle.”
