Hope for Henny: 8-year-old miracle still fighting for life
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - In the blink of an eye, everything changed for Hendrix “Henny” Gilstrap.
“I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that you can have a seemingly healthy, happy, very happy child on December 15. Then on December 16, he is on the highest form of life ,” said Mandi Gilstrap, Henny’s mom.
On Dec. 15, Henny was riding his bike, which is one of his favorite things to do.
“There was just no indicator anything was wrong. But the day before, on the 15th, he was really happy and was spinning wheelies on his bike and just making us laugh and being silly,” she said.
Henny mentioned his stomach wasn’t feeling well. Later on, things took a turn.
“I realized something was bad wrong. I call 911 immediately,” she said. “Repeating to myself in my head over and over like, ‘Do not panic, do not panic.’”
An ambulance took Henny to the Children’s Hospital of Georgia, where Mandi says they saved his life.
“I will never be able to thank them enough. I haven’t met one person here who hasn’t been above and beyond. They have walked me through everything they’re doing to Hendrix, everything he’s going through, what to expect, answering all my questions,” said Mandi.
They prepared her for the worst.
“I’ll never be able to unsee the ECMO life . It was very traumatic, and they prepared me for that. They told me it would be traumatic. And I witnessed them do several rounds of R on him, on this tiny little body,” she said.
He survived the initial battles which resulted in C-Diff, Sepsis, and Toxic Megacolon and he had to have his left leg amputated.
He’s had 11 surgeries so far and still has a long way to go.
“When he survives this, the last thing he’s gonna is telling me his stomach hurt and then waking up from a coma with one less limb and on dialysis,” said Mandi.
Mandi has been stuck in the hospital area but has been able to find one place of sanctuary — the koi pond next door.
“As soon as I stepped out here I was like, ‘I can breathe again,’” she said.
It became even more special when she realized, Henny’s room was visible from the pond.
“I was sitting out here meditating and praying and crying. And I looked up and realized I could see Henny’s window from here and I knew it was his window.”
She knew it was his from a Christmas stocking with the letter H they put up for the holidays. Now, it’s staying up even though Christmas is over.
“The H faced everyone out here so they would know this is Hendrix’s room. Someone came out here one day and said they were coming to fill that Christmas stocking with hope and love and prayers and it actually made me cry,” said Mandi. “I thought that was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard. Then at night, his nurses started taking the stocking off the window and like sprinkling it over Hendrix and saying, ‘Here, we’re showering you with everyone’s prayers and love.’”
Mandi says the whole journey has been a rollercoaster of emotions. Recently, Hendrix gave his parents and nurses a thumbs up.
“There wasn’t a dry eye on the floor, I sobbed,” she said. “He’s lost all the strength in his whole body. He can barely do that thumbs-up. That’s the most he can lift his hands.”
Henny took it one step further when he responded after his parents told him they loved him.
“In our family, anytime someone says ‘I love you,’ the other person says ‘I love you more’. And then we (Hendrix’s parents) always say, ‘Well, we loved you first. We win,’” said Mandi. “I was telling him I loved him right after that thumbs up. Hendrix mouthed, ‘I love you more’, and so that was huge because we know he’s in there.”
Henny showed them that he’s still fighting and isn’t giving up.
“Surely he’s got to come out of this. There’s got to be a reason that he is still here,” she said. “He has beat all odds so far, and there were a lot of them and while it does give me a reason, it also lets me know just how sick he was and is.”
From slim odds of survival to where they are now, some could say it’s a miracle.
“I think if we’ve already gotten to miracle status, I need him to keep being a miracle desperately,” said Mandi.
The family is taking it one day at a time, and there’s still a long way to go.
Mandi has been using this situation to advocate for awareness of what her son is going through.
“I personally feel like bowel issues and irritable bowel syndrome and Crohn’s disease and any kind of diseases or problems that involve people’s gut health and bowel health don’t get talked about enough,” she said. “People get embarrassed, but I wish I had known.”
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