Team effort leads to improbable turnaround

Born with multiple birth defects, including congenital heart disease, John Burks' prognosis was grim. Hospitalized for the first few months of his life, medical professionals gave John little chance of ever walking, talking or feeding himself. His maternal grandmother, however, had other ideas. Her steadfast refusal to accept the initial diagnosis changed the course of John's life.

"I didn't want to hear that my grandson would never be able to live a normal life," said Sandra Doyle. "So, I asked God for strength and to give me the best way to help him."

Following several months of 24-hour home nursing care, Sandra's prayer was answered. Concluding that her 14-month-old grandson needed more social interaction, Sandra and John's mother, Kenya, reached out to MCFI Pediatric Special Care.

"At the home-visit evaluation and our tour of MCFI you could see the love the administrators and nurses had for the kids," Sandra said. "MCFI was more like a family than a business, and they treated us like we were family. John just blended right into this environment."

Therapies and persistence bring results

Breathing through a tube and ventilator-dependent when he came to MCFI, rigorous rounds of physical, speech and occupational therapies - combined with his own force of will - soon allowed John to methodically check off the accomplished tasks on his medical "to-do list."

John was previously unable to feed himself, or even suck on a bottle, but he learned how to move his mouth and developed the motor skills needed to eat with utensils - well enough that he now consumes most of his nutrition orally.

Over time, John came off the ventilator and breathing tube and became capable of carrying on reciprocal conversations using full sentences and an extensive vocabulary. MCFI staff members and Sandra, a retired Certified Nursing Assistant, also worked diligently to stretch and strengthen John's leg muscles so he could bear weight and walk.

Ready for the next steps

Today, John, who will celebrate his fifth birthday in January, is healthy, active and enrolled in a K3 class at the School for Early Development & Achievement (SEDA). A gastrostomy tube is the only visible link to his medical past.

"John's strong support system - including the staff, Kenya, Sandra and his paternal grandmother, Octavia Burks (who is a driver at MCFI) have been crucial to his development," said Christine Boyce, BSN, RN, BA and Director of MCFI Pediatric Special Care. "He has a pacemaker and still receives breathing treatments for respiratory issues, so whenever someone noticed any illness symptoms they were quick to intervene to keep him healthy, out of the hospital and allow his treatments to continue uninterrupted."

Christine is also quick to heap praise on John's strong work ethic.

"John's been a great model to the other kids," she said. "His inner drive to succeed and push himself brought him much further than we thought. He's ready to fly."