Published: Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Crash devastating for toddler
The 17-month-old will have brain damage after a car crash. His family is anxiously keeping watch.
SEATTLE — Tekla Alters and Jessi Holt had a plan: Their boys, born less than two months apart, would be best friends.
That future became less clear when 17-month-old Trevon Alters suffered life-threatening injuries in a car crash.
The driver, Diandre Edgecombe, 25, of Marysville, was turning onto Highway 3 north of Poulsbo late on Nov. 13 when his car collided with another vehicle. Edgecombe died at the scene.
Trevon was one of three passengers airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. The boy’s father, Tarry Phillips, 29, of Everett, wasn’t seriously hurt.
Doctors at Harborview told Trevon’s family he will have brain damage from a head injury. He made significant progress since the crash, but it’s too early to tell. On Saturday, machines were helping him breathe and a cast covered his legs and stomach.
Alters, 21, of Lynnwood, has been sleeping in a foldout chair in a cozy waiting room on the hospital’s ninth floor. Her bedding is stocked in the corner. A shelf above serves as her pantry. She is thankful she was able to arrange for time off her job as a cashier at a grocery store.
Doctors told Alters her son may not recognize her when he wakes up. He may have to learn to walk and talk again. Alters is just glad her son is alive, she said on Saturday.
“The most important part of my son’s recovery right now is for me to be there,” Alters said.
In her journal, she writes letters to Trevon.
Almost a dozen friends and family members surrounded Alters in the hospital waiting room on Saturday. Many of the same people were gathered in another waiting room less than two years ago when Trevon was born. Like then, everyone is waiting for news.
“We get one piece of good news and 10 of bad,” said Kelly Dosskey of Everett, Trevon’s maternal grandmother.
Friends come and go, keeping Alters company and bringing her food.
“He is a fighter, that little boy is,” said Holt, whose son is one month and eight days younger than Trevon. “We have a plan for our kids, and this is not the plan.”
Trevon has always been a happy baby. When he was very little, he was afraid of grass. He’s always loved watching his dad do a special dance. He often would follow his father with his eyes.
Phillips, Trevon’s dad, said he was asleep when the car carrying him and his son collided with another vehicle.
“If I had a time machine, I would take all this back. But I don’t know anybody who has a time machine,” Phillips said.
Katya Yefimova: 425-339-3452 or kyefimova@heraldnet.com.
To help
Donations for Trevon Alters are being accepted at any Key Bank under account number 477241003169.
That future became less clear when 17-month-old Trevon Alters suffered life-threatening injuries in a car crash.
The driver, Diandre Edgecombe, 25, of Marysville, was turning onto Highway 3 north of Poulsbo late on Nov. 13 when his car collided with another vehicle. Edgecombe died at the scene.
Trevon was one of three passengers airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. The boy’s father, Tarry Phillips, 29, of Everett, wasn’t seriously hurt.
Doctors at Harborview told Trevon’s family he will have brain damage from a head injury. He made significant progress since the crash, but it’s too early to tell. On Saturday, machines were helping him breathe and a cast covered his legs and stomach.
Alters, 21, of Lynnwood, has been sleeping in a foldout chair in a cozy waiting room on the hospital’s ninth floor. Her bedding is stocked in the corner. A shelf above serves as her pantry. She is thankful she was able to arrange for time off her job as a cashier at a grocery store.
Doctors told Alters her son may not recognize her when he wakes up. He may have to learn to walk and talk again. Alters is just glad her son is alive, she said on Saturday.
“The most important part of my son’s recovery right now is for me to be there,” Alters said.
In her journal, she writes letters to Trevon.
Almost a dozen friends and family members surrounded Alters in the hospital waiting room on Saturday. Many of the same people were gathered in another waiting room less than two years ago when Trevon was born. Like then, everyone is waiting for news.
“We get one piece of good news and 10 of bad,” said Kelly Dosskey of Everett, Trevon’s maternal grandmother.
Friends come and go, keeping Alters company and bringing her food.
“He is a fighter, that little boy is,” said Holt, whose son is one month and eight days younger than Trevon. “We have a plan for our kids, and this is not the plan.”
Trevon has always been a happy baby. When he was very little, he was afraid of grass. He’s always loved watching his dad do a special dance. He often would follow his father with his eyes.
Phillips, Trevon’s dad, said he was asleep when the car carrying him and his son collided with another vehicle.
“If I had a time machine, I would take all this back. But I don’t know anybody who has a time machine,” Phillips said.
Katya Yefimova: 425-339-3452 or kyefimova@heraldnet.com.
To help
Donations for Trevon Alters are being accepted at any Key Bank under account number 477241003169.
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