Wonder boy

Twelve-year-old making giant strides in recovery after skiing accident

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. St. Patrick's Day, the crew at ALERT received a surprise visit from 12-year-old Forrest Morgan McGrath and his mother Michelle Morgan.

Steve Lamb, flight nurse, was on duty as he had been when Forrest crashed into a tree at Blacktail Mountain Ski Area on St. Patrick's Day in 2006.

"Steve was thrilled," Forrest's mother said with a smile. "He was ecstatic."

Lamb knew how close Forrest came to losing his life from massive head and other injuries. Morgan credits ALERT's quick response and Lamb's care during a subsequent flight to Salt Lake City with helping her son survive.

Although the accident left him deaf, Forrest miraculously regained most of his physical abilities in defiance of the best medical opinion. He also remains what his mother calls "one upbeat dude."

The details of the day of the accident remain etched in Morgan's mind.

Forrest and his twin sister, Kari, were students in the sixth grade at Somers Middle School. The family had just recently moved to Somers from Evergreen when the school had a ski day on Blacktail.

Unlike many victims of head trauma, Forrest remembered the events leading up to the accident. He told his mother he was skiing with some of his buddies when he had trouble with his ski bindings.

"He told the others in the group to go ahead and he would catch up with them," Morgan said.

A natural athlete, Forrest ramped up his speed to catch and then surpass his friends. He told his mother that he looked back at his pals just before hitting the tree.

His sister heard that one of the two boys named Forrest in their class was injured. When she saw the bright yellow ski jacket, she realized it was her brother lying in the snow.

Kari said others kept her from getting close enough to view her twin brother's catastrophic head injuries. He wasn't wearing a helmet.

Now, the school sends only one grade skiing at a time and requires all students to wear helmets.

"It was a nasty scene. The tree was tougher than he was on that day," his mother said. "He broke every bone in his face."

These included his jaw, palette, sinus cavities and eye sockets. His skull was crushed and his right ear destroyed. He also had breaks in his collar bone, both sides of his pelvis and the lower part of his leg.

"His heart wasn't injured but he did have one lung collapsed," Morgan said.

Two members of the ski patrol got Forrest down from the ski hill where he was picked up by Lamb and the rest of the ALERT crew for transport to Kalispell Regional Medical Center.

Morgan said she found out about the accident when her daughter called. She said she had been out running errands but felt a need to return home even though she hadn't finished.

A girlfriend came and took her to the medical center where doctors determined that Forrest needed pediatrical surgical attention not available in the Flathead Valley. Morgan insisted that her son go to Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City although hospital officials first suggested Seattle.

"It was just a little further," she said. "It was either us utterly alone or go where you know the whole hospital."

Morgan grew up in Salt Lake City and she was familiar with the institution's pediatric capabilities in conjunction with the University of Utah. She also realized she and Forrest would benefit from family support during his recovery.

According to Morgan, she never considered that he might not survive.

"I refused to believe that anywhere in my mind, heart or soul," she said.

On the fixed-wing flight from Kalispell to Salt Lake City, Lamb never left Forrest's side as he fought to keep him stable for the two-hour trip. Morgan called Lamb's work pretty incredible.

"It was very touch and go - Forrest was very smashed," she remembered.

Ironically, the extent of his skull fracturing played a role in saving his life by allowing his brain room to swell from the injury. Once at the hospital, the surgeons had to wait a few days for the swelling to go down before attempting his reconstruction.

Morgan was amazed at how deftly the surgeons reconstructed areas like his eye sockets by entering through small incisions made close to his eye lashes. Those scars remain barely visible even on close-up inspection.

Forrest's destroyed right ear was rebuilt to look completely normal.

His jaw was wired shut and he was put in an induced coma to allow his many fractures to heal without displacement by movement.

"April ninth was the first day that he had less sedation," Morgan said.

She said no one knew what abilities Forrest would retain or even if he would wake up at all. Even in his coma, he retained a special magnetism that had always attracted people.

Morgan recalled the nurses lining up, hoping for signs of recovery.

"He had all the nurses loving him," she said with a laugh. "Everyone has always loved Forrest."

The boy woke up over a matter of days leading up to his 12th birthday on April 15. Kari traveled to the hospital to celebrate their birthday together.

Everyone was heartened as he tried to read his cards.

"When he said he wanted to play video games, we knew he was still in there," his mother said. "Each time he played, you could see he was doing better."

Morgan was told by specialists that Forrest would lose whatever memories he had retained as parts of his brain continued to die. Instead, he continued to improve.

A golden retriever therapy dog named The Colonel became a source of happiness and healing during regular visits to Forrest's room. His heart beat slowed by 10 beats when The Colonel came calling.

It wasn't until April 23 that the family and medical staff realized Forrest had a hearing problem.

"I was with him at every single hearing test," Morgan said. "It was difficult to know if he was understanding the process."

Hope remains that he will regain some hearing in his left ear with a cochlear implant. His mother expects Forrest to receive the electronic device some time in the next year.

He had his last surgery in May to replace a nerve on the right side of his face that controls motor function. A replacement specialist took a nerve out of Forrest's neck to replace the one severed in the accident.

"The specialist said the surgery isn't always 100 percent successful but that it went beautifully," Morgan said.

She said they had a backup plan if it didn't take. So far, Forrest has gained much of his ability to move his face although healing in these procedures continues for a year or more.

On May 20 of 2006, he was released from the hospital. Forrest had to work to keep his mouth closed, he was eating only through a tube and needed assistance to walk.

She said Forrest started therapy on horseback locally with Bob and Timi Burmood.

"That has been tremendous," she said. "He's now riding his bike. He didn't have the balance to walk alone last June."

Forrest brightened and immediately gave a thumbs up when his mother spoke of the Burmoods and horseback riding.

"Bob's a great friend of Forrest's," his mom said.

He followed the conversation by reading his mother's lips and watching his sister signing. His mother admits she struggles to learn signing but Forrest and Kari picked it up quickly.

The two signed back and forth, giggling as they shared a running private commentary during the interview.

"What we do is called home sign," she said, a combination of sign language, lip reading and improvisation.

Forrest returned to school with his older sister Holli working as his aide. Formerly an outstanding student, he found school challenging this year as he struggles with maintaining focus and concentration.

Morgan hasn't been able to work for a year because she never knows when Forrest will come home from school. An account in Forrest's name was set up at Whitefish Credit Union to help the family try to make ends meet.

She thanks the Kalispell Latter-day Saints Church, second ward, for helping her pay her rent and other expenses and providing spiritual support.

"There were so many prayers," she said. "He's recovered more than they said he ever would."

He has retained his memory and never suffered any seizures, a near medical impossibility.

Some of his interests and abilities, like art, have yet to reappear. He remains self-conscious about speaking, as he can't hear himself.

His mother said he looks forward to serving his mission with the Mormon church and remains interested in producing video games in the future.

Morgan said the family continues trying to get Forrest back into his life. She said he was always going 90 miles per hour unless he was asleep.

"He asks Heavenly Father to help him be like he used to be," she said. "We know he will."

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.