BILLINGS — Thirteen-year-old Caius Porrello is always on the move.
“I usually play soccer and wrestling," said Caius.
He would often use his bike to get around in the summer while mowing lawns, but on Aug. 13, his world was flipped. He was several blocks from his house in Laurel when he was hit by a car. His mother, Kendra Porrello, was working from home when she was notified about the accident.
“My husband originally got the phone call. He called me right away just saying, 'Hey, sounds like Caius is okay, but he was in an accident. He was hit by a car,'” said Kendra.
On Friday, the Laurel family showed their appreciation for their son's nurses at St. Vincent hospital after he suffered a traumatic brain injury.
First responders believed Caius only had some road rash and a concussion, but he was still taken to the hospital in an ambulance for a check up. At this point, Caius was still conscious.
"As far as we knew, it was just a checkup and just coming in for precautionary measures,” said Kendra. "The paramedic was very confident that this is very normal for when someone hits their head, so, there wasn't really any reason to worry.”
However, Caius was quickly scanned for trauma and was found to have suffered a traumatic brain injury, skull fracture, and a brain bleed. He was beginning to vomit and lose consciousness, so doctors performed emergency surgery, a craniotomy. The procedure repaired his skull and artery that was causing the bleed. Menard Barruga, a pediatric intensivist at Intermountain Health, explained that had he been taken to the center later, as close as 30 minutes, the situation could have become more dire.
“For his typical bleed, they tend to be okay and then they crash quickly, which he did right in the emergency room, and so they needed to take him to the operating room emergently. Otherwise, he could have had a different outcome compared to what he had," said Barruga.
Surgery lasted two hours and Caius was then sedated after. His parents were worried for their son, but through the guidance of hospital staff, they felt more at ease.
“We felt like we were in good hands, but it was definitely scary at that point, for sure,” said Kendra.
Caius did not fully wake up until four days later, but he remembered nothing about the accident.
"I didn't know why I was in the hospital,” said Caius. “I remember my dad said that I got hit by a car and I said, 'What?'"
He was in the hospital for a week. He had some difficulty with walking, first using a walking stick for assistance, but quickly made improvements, much to his parents' surprise.
"Those first couple days, it was really nerve-wracking. Wasn't really sure what it would look like when we got home. But once he did, just even a little bit of physical therapy, pretty much once he knew he could walk, then he was walking," said Kendra.
“That's the great part about taking care of kids. They tend to bounce back from serious injuries like this, and back on their feet, doing normal things fairly quickly if they can," said Barruga.
Caius was determined to heal fast and begin school on time. On Sept. 3, he made that happen and attended his first day with his eighth-grade class just three weeks later.
“Well, the first day of school, I had a lot of questions like, 'What happened?' They just asked about my scar," said Caius.
Since the accident, he has stayed away from electronics and activities, but he is still doing well in school without problems. The family is grateful for the medical care received. Intermountain Health, which owns St. Vincent's, is designated as a Level One trauma center, meaning trauma care is available to families in more rural places in Montana and Wyoming.
The close distance from home was able to save Caius's life.
"I think now that we have the designation, we are getting more pediatric cases here because of the capabilities of us having a pediatric ICU and really the only pediatric ICU here in eastern Montana,” said Barruga. “The real serious kids, if we're able to take care of them, can be managed from the ER to the ICU and rehab on the floor, depending on what they need and then home.”
To show their appreciation, Caius, his mother, and his two sisters surprised the nurses who helped him with a box of cookies on Friday.
“It's a little something just to show that we haven't forgotten, and it really was very, very impactful for us here," said Kendra. “For us, having the pediatric unit here really was a matter of life and death."
“They helped a lot, and I was close to dying,” said Caius.
As he continues to progress, his scar will serve as a powerful reminder of the support he received, and safety should always come first.
“I think the biggest thing is just that we feel really, really cared for and really, really loved. Just a good reminder to be really grateful every day and wear your helmets," said Kendra.
While Caius will miss out on fall sports, he hopes to be back doing what he loves by next spring.
