Two-year-old Bryan Rosenberg lay in his hospital bed following emergency brain surgery. His father, Dr. Jason Rosenberg, remembers this nightmare of a day as if it was yesterday.
On Aug. 4, 2007, Bryan fell out of a moving golf cart and hit his head on pavement. The next several hours were nothing short of miraculous as University of Florida physicians and Shands medical staff worked feverishly to save little Bryan’s life.
Dr. Rosenberg said that because of his medical background, he knew his son’s brain was hemorrhaging and there was little time to waste. He credits Jennifer Light, MD, Shands at UF Pediatric Emergency Room director; the surgeons who operated on Bryan; and the Shands medical staff who assisted with saving his son’s life.
“I remember him regaining consciousness after surgery,” Dr. Rosenberg said. “We play a game called hug, kiss or tickle. And I gave him a choice. I said, ‘Do you want a hug, kiss or tickle Bry-Bry?’ He said ‘a kiss,’ and I started crying. When he said that, it was such a relief. I knew he was going to be OK.”
Through this experience, Dr. Rosenberg understands the importance of a dedicated Pediatric Emergency Room and a centralized children’s hospital.
“We need one central place where we can take care of kids,” said Dr. Rosenberg, whose son today is a perfectly healthy boy. “If this incident with my son would have resulted in disjointed pediatric care, Bryan would have died. We were very, very fortunate. The people of our region deserve a place like the officials at UF and Shands are planning. We need a dedicated children’s hospital under one roof to treat the entire gamut of pediatric health care needs.”
The kids we treat need your support to ensure that they all get the kind of emergency care Bryan received – the kind of care that saves lives.