“I am truly blessed,” says his mother. “Children’s Specialized Hospital worked a miracle.”
Coming Full Circle, Khalil Made a Miraculous Recovery and Now Gives Back
On Halloween of 2013, Khalil Pereira of North Plainfield was on his way home for the weekend from college. The 18-year-old freshman was studying nursing. As his friend drove down the New Jersey Parkway, Khalil dozed in the back seat. He never saw the car coming at them, never felt the collision. Their car flipped 15 times before coming to rest. Khalil suffered a severe traumatic brain injury.
After weeks in an intensive care unit, Kahlil was stable enough to be transferred to Children’s Specialized Hospital in New Brunswick. He was off the ventilator, but needed a trach to breathe and used a feeding tube. Recalls his mother, Shanette, of those dark days, “He could not walk or talk, he was diapered, in space, not responding to anyone. We didn’t know if he recognized us.” The young man could not control his head, which hung down, and he could not move a muscle.
Tiny rays of light pierced the darkness, as a battery of therapies -- physical, occupational, recreational and pool -- provided by Children’s undaunted therapists began to make a difference. “His therapists were the dream team,” says Khalil’s mom. Khalil returned to another hospital for surgery to remove part of his skull to relieve swelling; and a shunt was inserted. Back at Children’s in January of 2014, he began to respond. When the trach came out, “I prayed to hear his voice,” says Shanette. “My prayers were answered – my son spoke his first word on Valentine’s Day 2014: ‘Mom.’”
During his nearly six months here, Khalil “thought he was the mayor,” says Shanette, then a part-time nursing assistant at the hospital. “Everyone knew and loved him.”
The young man’s recovery has astonished everyone. Today, at 21, despite being somewhat physically unsteady on his feet and suffering moderate hearing loss, Khalil is preparing to re-enter college. Now living in North Brunswick, he has worked at Wendy’s and has a new job at CVS. In another step toward independence, Khalil is working on getting his driver’s license -- again. “He’s doing well. I’m very proud of him,” says Shanette.
Three years after he lay unresponsive in bed at the New Brunswick hospital, Khalil is volunteering here -- helping to set up parties for the children, and bringing kids downstairs for therapy. For a Valentine’s Day party, Shanette made lollipops for staff and families. “People are amazed at his recovery. They said, ‘No way is this the same kid!’ Even the therapists were amazed!”
Khalil may not be a nurse – not yet – but he is serving those in need. “I am truly blessed,” says his mother. “Children’s Specialized Hospital worked a miracle.”