In July 2011, three young siblings lost their parents in a tragic car accident on the way home from summer vacation in Colorado. The Berry family was traveling back to Houston when their vehicle was struck head-on by an SUV that had veered into their lane. The two brothers, Peter and Aaron, who were 9 and 8 years old at the time, sustained serious spinal cord injuries that paralyzed them from the waist down. Miraculously, their younger sister, Willa, was mostly unharmed.
After life-saving surgery at a West Texas hospital, Peter and Aaron were transported by Memorial Hermann Life Flight® to Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital, where they were placed under the care of the pediatric surgery team and closely followed by the trauma nurse practitioners. After weeks of treatment and therapy, they were both discharged in late July and sent to a rehabilitation institute in Chicago. The boys soon returned to Houston where they spent months in pediatric outpatient rehabilitation at TIRR Memorial Hermann.
Now, nearly three years later, the siblings are thriving. In March, they returned to Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital to visit their old nurses and caretakers, most of whom they hadn’t seen since being discharged from the hospital. Both brothers are active on the TIRR Memorial Hermann Hotwheels wheelchair basketball team, who happen to be the 2013 national champions.