Boy regains consciousness after parents sign papers to donate organs

A 13-year-old boy who suffered severe brain trauma in an accident regained consciousness after his parents signed paperwork to donate his organs, WALA-TV reports. Trenton McKinley of Mobile, Alabama, suffered the injury two months ago when a small utility trailer he was riding flipped over.

“I hit the concrete, and the trailer landed on top of my head. After that, I don’t remember anything,” he told WALA-TV.

He suffered seven skull fractures in the accident, and his parents were told that Trenton would never be the same.

“They told me the oxidation problems would be so bad to his brain that he would be a vegetable if he even made it,” his mother Jennifer Reindl told WALA-TV.

Reindl said she signed the papers to donate Trenton’s organs because five kids needing transplants were a match. “It was unfair to keep bringing him back because it was just damaging his organs even more,” she said.

But just a day before doctors were set to end Trenton’s life support, he showed signs of cognition, and now he’s slowly going through recovery. He’s dealing with nerve pain and seizures and will soon undergo surgery to reconnect part of his skull.

Trenton said he believes he was in heaven while he was unconscious.

“I was in an open field walking straight,” he told WALA-TV. “There’s no other explanation but God. There’s no other way. Even doctors said it.” 

The family started a fundraiser on Facebook that has already exceeded its $4,000 goal.