Miracle girl visits classmates
Published: October 30, 2006
Family says prayers helping child recover after tree falls on car
It’s hard to believe one little girl could be so animated and out-scream a chorus of 48 equally enthusiastic friends. Yet, she did.
“Come over here Kaci (Lucas) and give me a big hug,” Shannon called to her classmate as she entered the room at St. Sebastian Catholic School. “Now, Allison (Simon), you know you better come over here, too.”
The stamina and joy of this little girl, as she conducted a roll call of the class, was incredible — considering how close she was to dying just a few months ago.
Those close to 7 ½-year-old Shannon Seikel have come to know that with Shannon anything is possible.
They don’t call her their “miracle girl” for nothing.
Shannon was party to a heartfelt reception at the school Wednesday afternoon. It’s a place she hadn’t been since May — and a place some thought she’d never see again.
That’s because the daughter of Tom and Kelly Seikel wasn’t expected to live after a huge tree crashed down on the car in which she was riding. The accident May 20 left Shannon with a massive head injury.
That Saturday, Kelly Seikel had taken her now 10-year-old son, Tommy, and a couple of friends to Sand Run Park.
“My best friend from high school had volunteered to take my girls, Shannon and Taylor (now 12), shopping,” Kelly Seikel said.
The car was traveling on Memorial Parkway when the tree’s roots gave way and the unthinkable happened. “It was about 4:30 p.m., I think…. I got the call about 6 to come to the (Akron Children’s) hospital. I didn’t know which of my daughters was hurt, just that it was very bad.”
Shannon was in a coma for several weeks with a grim prognosis.
The family credits pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Henry Bartkowski and the power of prayer, including the prayers of Shannon’s 48 peers, with bringing her back.
Fortunately, Taylor suffered only minor injuries. The driver was not hurt — well, not physically.
The journey back to life for Shannon, which has included a series of mini strokes, has been long and uncertain. Slow and steady, her mother calls it. She spent 3 ½ months in Cleveland Clinic’s Rehabilitation Center.
Doctors recently placed an acrylic plate in Shannon’s head to replace part of the skull she lost. She wears a bright-blue helmet for protection.
“They sent her home with a wheelchair, and the school and church built a ramp,” said an emotional Kelly Seikel. “But the only time Shannon has used the wheelchair is when she’s at a soccer game. She walks down the ramp for exercise.” Shannon wears a leg brace for support and goes to therapy several times a week.
Kelly Gupta — who was Shannon’s first-grade teacher — agreed with the mom’s assessment that Shannon is “a total miracle.”
“It’s just so wonderful to see her back,” Gupta said. “There were times we didn’t think this day would ever come. Amazing! Just amazing!”
Even more amazing is that Shannon — even after all she’s been through — is the same person: effervescent and confident. And she still thinks boys “stink.”
Shannon’s mother, who is making arrangements for home instruction for her daughter, says she hopes she’ll be able to return to St. Sebastian next school year.
Gupta is hoping for that, too. After the accident, she made arrangements to move from teaching first grade last year to second grade this year. “We were all so traumatized by what was happening to Shannon that I wanted to stay with the kids,” she said.
“They couldn’t understand why they couldn’t see her. I just couldn’t abandon them.”
“These kids really believed she would be all right,” Kelly Seikel said.
“We’ve prayed every day,” Gupta said.
Kelly Seikel expressed her gratitude for the outpouring of financial assistance and prayers from the community at large and the church and school in particular. And for all of the other kindnesses — from Shannon’s redecorated bedroom from sister-in-law Cindy Fisher of Tallmadge to the purple poncho with the smiley faces from school librarian Eileen Cox.
“Prayer is all we really ever wanted,” Kelly Seikel said, as her eyes measured just how far her daughter has come: from tragedy to miracle.
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