Jayme Lucas is the typical baby boy that brightens up any room. He is always happy-go-lucky, healthy and constantly smiling.
This is a photo of Jayme (left) and his sister Natalynn (right) before the incident. (Photo Source: Amylynn Lucas/Jayme's mom). (Photo Source: Amylynn Lucas/Jayme's mom).
Only 7 months old, Jayme’s interests are what one would expect from a little one: playing with toys that light up and make noises, watching the popular kids’ show Cocomelon -- and basically anything he can chew on.
“He really loves doing raspberries,” said Jayme’s mother Amylynn Lucas. “He gets very excited, has a big old grin and his feet start kicking.”
This was Jayme the night before incident. (Photo Source: Amylynn Lucas/Jayme's mom).
On Sept. 1, Jayme’s parents Amylynn and Nathan Lucas received a call that, as Jayme’s aunt Jamie Hehner describes, “Truly a parents’ worst nightmare.”
Jayme was on his way to Golisano Children’s Hospital in Syracuse in an ambulance, after having uncontrollable seizures.
Earlier in the day on Sept. 1, Amylynn dropped off Jayme and her 4-year old daughter Natalyn at a fill-in babysitter’s home. The babysitter that the Lucas family normally works with was on vacation at the time, Amylynn said.
The Lucas family, who currently lives with Nathan’s parents in the village of Freeville (Tompkins County), were in the process of selling their home in another location.
Amylynn and Nathan were taking care of the house the family used to live in. While there, they received multiple phone calls from the person filling in as their babysitter and their normal babysitter that “something was wrong” with Jayme.
As Jayme’s parents rushed to the hospital, the “fill-in” babysitter followed the ambulance.
Amylynn noted that her and Nathan waited two hours to see Jayme, as doctors and nurses worked to keep the seizures under control. Once Jayme's parents saw him, he was intubated (on a ventilator that included forced air into the lungs) while in an induced coma.
What Jayme looked like when we first saw him at the hospital. (Photo Source: Amylynn Lucas/Jayme's mom).
“He looked awful,” Amylynn said. “He had bruises on his head, arms and back right hip, and a cut on his foot. The hospital staff did a closer inspection and found bruises in his ears. He bled in both frontal lobes, in the back of his head and had retinal bleeding across both eyes.”
Amylnn noted that Jayme was in the hospital until Sept. 10. Through the stay at the hospital, Jayme had sporadic seizures, which prompted the hospital to put in on four different types of seizure medications.
Amylynn said that the medications were helping, but the hospital staff eventually put Jayme on an electroencephalogram (EEG). An EEG helps monitor brain waves for patients who are having seizures.
Jayme hooked to a machine receiving forced air (Photo Source: Amylynn Lucas/Jayme's mom).
For Jayme, the EEG worked and he was seizure-free after 24 hours. According to Amylynn, one seizure was thought to have lasted 17 minutes; but the EEG recorded that it lasted over 25 minutes.
“He was pretty lethargic through everything,” Amylynn said.
Since Jayme was discharged from the hospital on Sept. 10, Amylynn said he’s been getting “progressively better” every day.
First smile after the incident. (Photo Source: Amylynn Lucas/Jayme's mom).
Amylynn added that Jayme doesn’t have the muscle strength “he had before”, and that he can’t get comfortable “when he sleeps.”
Amylynn mentioned that Jayme’s sister Natalyn “seems to be doing ok” during Jayme’s recovery process, but “doesn’t understand why she can’t play with him like they used to.”
The siblings are united again after the incident. (Photo Source: Amylynn Lucas/Jayme's mom).
“We have to put toys in his hands for him to grab because he can’t see as well due to the retinal bleeding,” Amylynn said. “He also can’t sit and hold in the same position on his own.”
The Lucas family has received plenty of support through Jayme’s recovery process, including through a GoFundMe page that Amylynn’s sister Jamie started on Sept. 11 to help raise funds for the family.
Hehner made the goal to raise $20,000 for the Lucas family through GoFundMe. As of Friday morning, the page has raised over $18,000 in donations.
“THANK YOU so much for all your love, support, and PRAYERS for baby Jayme and his family,” Hehner notes in her write-up on the GoFundMe page. “We pray he will come out of this strong & have a full recovery.”
Hehner added, “They deserve it. Baby Jayme deserves it” in regards to the donations.
Since Amylynn decided to take a break from work and stay home with the kids, the GoFundMe donations will be “very helpful” for the family, she said.
“We really appreciate it,” Amylynn added.
Jayme starting to hold his bottle again after the incident. (Photo Source: Amylynn Lucas/Jayme's mom).
Amylynn said Jayme still gets headaches, cries uncontrollably and holds his head when he’s in pain. He takes three types of seizure medications now, each twice a day.
The raspberries that Jayme loves started happening again a few days ago, Amylynn said. It’s a sign that Jayme is beginning to become the baby he used to be before the incident.
“It's going to be a long process,” Amylynn stated.
An investigation is ongoing in regards to the sources of Jayme’s seizures and injuries, with the fill-in babysitter part of the investigation as well. Amylynn declined to further comment on details revolving around the incident.
