My son Matthew was hit by a car while riding his bicycle in 2022. He was thrown headfirst into a cinder block wall; unfortunately he wasn’t wearing a helmet. Paramedics arrived on scene and Matthew was still breathing, albeit faintly. They rushed to a hospital where he underwent craniotomy surgery to remove the left side of his skull to relieve the pressure on his brain from the multiple subdural hematoma. Five days later surgeons removed the right side of Matthew’s skull because his brain was still swelling.

After that surgery Matthew’s eyes were fixed and dilated and I was told he was “never coming back.”  I walked in hell for two days and on the third day I saw God tell Matthew that he will recover and a voice in my head said: “you heard what I said to your son, now stay by him.”   Since then I have stayed by my son and advocated for him every step of the way. Matthew's first nurse in the PICU told me that if I have the opportunity to choose where Matthew is sent, our first choice should be Totally Kids.

Six months and several hospitals and facilities later we were able to get Matthew into Totally Kids where he lived in the subacute section for ten months until the tube was removed from his trachea and he was moved to Totally Kids’ Circlebook program. Matthew has been at Circlebook for almost 11 months and is receiving the best care imaginable. Though I am homeless and sleep in my truck outside of Matthew's facility every night, I am so blessed to be able to keep my promise to God and stay by my son everyday through this journey and share Matthew’s story as a true testimony to God’s Glory.

Matthew A. Cobley