COLUMBIA FALLS – With his arm hanging off his neck in a sling, Beau Bronson looked like any other 12-year-old recovering from an injury: stretched across the couch, planted in front of the television and appearing generally relaxed. But the looks Beau’s parents Jon and Rose kept giving their son, the long stares and slight smiles, said otherwise.
The parents know that very little of Beau’s life has been like any other 12-year-old’s since Jon found him lying unconscious in an intersection a month ago, the victim of a rare heart disorder. Now the three of them – Beau, Jon and Rose – are facing the reality of a radically changed life and significant medical bills, a difficult situation they hope to handle with the help of friends and family.
In early October, Jon, who used to work at the Columbia Falls Aluminum Plant and now works on oil rigs in North Dakota, was back home in Montana recovering from an on-the-job injury sustained when a pallet came down on his foot. Using his newfound free time, Jon decided to take Beau to Kalispell to visit some family friends on the afternoon of Oct. 8. Arriving at Chuck Reeves’ house, Beau found out that his friends were a few blocks down the road biking and within moments he had retrieved his bike and was tearing down the street. That was the last time Jon would see his son conscious for two weeks.
Just a block away from their friend’s home, Beau collapsed in the street and fell off his bike. Although no one knew it at the time, Beau’s heart had stopped. Doctors would later determine that Beau had Catecholaminergic Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia, a rare heart disorder that occurs in only one in every 10,000 people, mostly youth.
Moments after Beau collapsed, his friends biked toward him while someone living in a house across the street ran to perform CPR. When the other kids saw Beau’s condition, they quickly biked to where Jon was. Minutes later, Jon approached his lifeless son, kneeled down and held him. Beau’s eyes were empty. His lips were blue.
“That’s when I looked into my son’s eyes and saw that he was gone,” Jon said later on.
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Rose Bronson, left, and her husband, Jon Bronson, describe the day their son Beau had a heart attack. Beau was later diagnosed with a genetic congenital heart defect. |
Police and an ambulance arrived quickly, restarted his heart and then whisked the boy off to the hospital, but upon arriving there, doctors knew this medical anomaly was something they couldn’t deal with by themselves. A helicopter from Missoula was dispatched and within a few hours Beau was in Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane.
In Spokane, Beau was put in a medically induced coma and his body was cooled down to 90 degrees, to allow the body to begin healing. It appeared that Beau was going to survive the ordeal, but the big question remained: Would he be the same?
“It was touch and go because there was concern about brain injuries,” Beau’s mother Rose said.
Almost a week after what was described as a mini heart attack, doctors tried to wean Beau off sedative drugs and have him emerge from the coma, but when he did, he was confused and combative. Beau, who even now doesn’t remember what had happened, had no idea what was going on or where he was. Doctors decided it would be best to again place him in a coma and wait. A few days later he underwent surgery to place a pacemaker in his chest to ensure that his heart keeps beating.
Almost two weeks after the accident, doctors again slowly took Beau off the drugs and he once again emerged from a coma, this time less combative – just confused. Jon and Rose told him what happened, about the heart attack, about the pacemaker and about how his life was different now. From now on, Beau has to take beta blocker drugs twice a day, for the rest of his life. He also has to be more aware of physical contact because any sudden strike to his body could stop his heart once again. Jon said it’s an adjustment, but one they will all get used to.
“Dad can’t wrestle with him for awhile,” Jon said. “It’s tough because we always used to do it… It’s an eye opener for me. I’ve got to adjust to his needs.”
Although Beau is disappointed about his new limitations – it’s unlikely he’ll be able to play contact sports like football or, at least this year, go hunting – he knows he will grow accustomed to his altered lifestyle.
“It’ll just be a habit,” Beau said about having to take pills everyday and being careful about physical contact. “I’ll get used to it. It’ll just be what I do.”
Since the accident, Beau has missed almost a month of school but he’ll be returning soon and he can’t wait. Although he hasn’t minded the break, he misses his friends. He has also grown tired of wearing a sling, which is meant to keep him from raising his arm higher than his shoulder, at least for now. Rose said she knows eventually her son will be back to normal.
“At first I’ll be concerned about letting him out that door and out of my sight,” Rose said. “But I don’t want to keep him in a bubble… (I) just want to let him live his life as normal as possible.”
But she knows Beau can’t wait to get out that door again, joking that he’s getting tired of hanging out with “us old people.” For now, though, he’s still at home, resting on the couch. Jon and Rose can’t take their eyes of their son. They both know it was a miracle that Beau lived.
“He’s got a purpose in life; we just have to find it,” Jon said. “The good Lord had his plan for Beau and it all worked in step.”
A trust fund has been set up to help the family with their medical bills and donations can be brought to the Parkside Federal Credit Union in Columbia Falls.