Prayers are requested for Preston Loyd, a 4-year-old boy who was run over by a lawn mower.
On 22 April 2009, four-year-old Preston Loyd of Mooresville, North Carolina, suffered extensive injuries when he was accidentally run over by a lawn mower operated by his grandfather. As described in the Mooresville Tribune, Preston was immediately airlifted to a hospital for medical treatment, including surgery which involved the removal of his spleen and one kidney:With extensive injuries, especially to his left side, Preston was immediately airlifted to Carolina Medical Center's Levine Children's Hospital where he has remained in critical condition. After Preston arrived at the hospital, surgeons operated for several hours to repair immediate damage and control bleeding. In that trauma surgery, Preston lost his left kidney and his spleen. That evening, [his father, Ashton] Loyd said a doctor told him, 'The best news I can give you is he's not supposed to be alive right now and he is.' Since the accident, surgeons have connected Preston's damaged esophagus to his rectum, providing a line for digestion. However, Loyd said that without a stomach - it was irreparably damaged in the accident - the 4-year-old's food intake will be much smaller than normal. Currently, Preston is being fed via a feeding tube until the repairs to his digestive system heal. Neurological damage is unclear at this point, Loyd said, adding that his son's internal cranial pressure (ICP) is continually monitored. Preston has remained sedated and on a ventilator. Only when his ICP stabilizes will he be weaned from his sleeping state. No long-term prognosis has been made yet for Preston, she said, but the family's hopes are high as they rely on faith and doctors to heal their youngest child. Ashton Loyd said that following the surgery to repair Preston's digestive system, one doctor told the family that 'if he can heal neurologically, he can be a little boy again.' 'To me that means his long-term prognosis is that he'll be running around again, kicking, eating a lot of ice cream,' Ashton Loyd said as he talked about his son, although he quickly noted that the family truly does not know yet what their 4-year-old's life will be like.According to the accounts from his mother on the CaringBridge site established for Preston, as of 24 May 2009 he was moved out of intensive care and has been talking, singing, and breathing on his own.
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