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SALT LAKE CITY — Primary Children's Hospital specializes in treating sick and injured children, no matter what the diagnosis. There are hundreds of Utah families who have seen miracles happen in the Salt Lake City hospital — families like the Bendas.
Chris Benda said her teenage son Pete is her family's miracle. On Oct. 26, 2012, Pete was critically injured after falling 30 feet at his high school while changing the lamps in the auditorium.
“I went up in the cherry picker, and I was like 30 or 45 feet up in the air. It hit a bump and it all tipped over,” Pete said.
After going into a coma, doctors suspected he may never wake up. Chris said she was devastated not knowing what was ahead for her son.
“When Pete was laying there, and we didn’t know the outcome, I kept thinking: Will he ever drive? Will he ever be married? Will he ever have grandkids?” Chris said.
But things started looking up once they were introduced to Primary Children’s Hospital.
“He went to a different hospital first, for 2 ½ weeks, and I say they saved his life. But when we went to Primary Children’s, they saved our boy," Chris said. "They were so compassionate. They took care of us and educated us and treated Pete as if he was going to walk out that door. There was never any doubt.”
On Jan. 6, Pete woke up. Since then, he has continued to prove that he is a survivor and a fighter.
He went to a different hospital first, for 2 ½ weeks, and I say they saved his life. But when we went to Primary Children's, they saved our boy.
–Chris Benda, Pete's mother
“When you look up the statistics for Pete’s type of brain injury, they say 90 percent stay in a vegetative state," Chris said. "Pete will have his limitations, but you know, he’s that 5 percent.”
Pete missed most of his freshman year of high school. After spending 111 days in the hospital, he was finally sent home. He started back to school at Juan Diego High School with a limited schedule, and is now almost back to full-time student status with limited assistance throughout the day.
“We’ll continue getting him caught up on his credits, so hopefully he can graduate with his classmates,” Chris said.
Pete attends therapy a couple times a week. Despite everything that has happened, he said he wouldn’t change it for anything.
“Everything happens for a reason, so I’m not going to change that. Even if I had the power to go back and reset it, I would not because it just makes me who I am," Pete said.
The Primary Children's Make Miracles Happen telethon is underway right now. It wraps up this Saturday during a live broadcast from 6:00-9:00 p.m.. You can donate online at www.kslkids.com. Every penny collected will go toward charity care for Utah children.
Email: jmichaelson@ksl.com
Contributing: Nadine Wimmer
