Wearing home-made badges with her son's picture on them, Nicole Holko says her little boy is finally able to breathe on his own. Even though he's not yet able to speak, he recognizes his family members. Nicole says "it seems like we're getting laughs and smiles out of him."
Three weeks ago, the four year old was sitting on his dad's lap when a line-drive foul ball hit him in the back of the head, fracturing his skull. Following emergency brain surgery and a transfer to Akron Children's Hospital, his doctors say Luke has passed a critical period in his recovery. Dr. James Besunder, Director of Akron's Critical Care Medicine, told reporters "the swelling has gone away, there's no increased pressure on the brain, and that has allowed us to move into the phase, which is really the convalesent and recovery phase."
But the doctor warns its still too soon to know how successful Luke's recovery will be, saying "it could be up to a year."
Meantime, Nicole says the outpouring of prayers and support the family has received -- some coming from other countries, as well as the Scrappers and Indians organizations -- has been both overwhelming and humbling. But her deepest praise goes to those who've been treating her son, saying "there's no words for the gratitude and love that they show -- they treat him like he's their own."
And as Luke continues his recovery, Nicole says he could be transferred from Children's to a rehabilitation hospital in the Cleveland area as soon as next week.
Nicole tells us she and her family continue staying with Luke 24-7 -- and that she's been blogging about her son and his recovery -- even encouraging folks who'd like to follow their story to read about it on-line.
Simply go to our website -- wkbn.com and we'll have a link for the site -- known as caringbridge.org.
