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“No, no, they can’t take him to Warsaw. They don’t know him there! Dad, he has to go to Children’s Hospital. They won’t know how to take care of him at Warsaw,” I urged.

“Jill, he might not even make it to Warsaw.”

“I’m on my way.”

I drove as fast as I could, but it still took me an hour to get to the hospital. I sobbed and pleaded with God the entire drive. “No, no, please God, no.”

When I arrived my dad was at the bottom of the entrance road, waving with both hands to direct me where to go. I pulled into the outpatient parking area and ran into the emergency room.

Immediately I saw my mother; her face was drenched in tears. Extreme dread overcame me and I thought, This is it. Hunter is going to die. She quickly directed me to the first room on the left, where at least six people dressed in hospital scrubs were trying to save my son. I maneuvered my way over to Hunter’s side and looked into his eyes.

He didn’t acknowledge me. He didn’t try to turn his head toward me. He didn’t blink. He just lay there staring at the ceiling. The only movement I noticed in the room came from the nurse positioned above my son who was administering CPR.

My voice cracked as I whispered in Hunter’s ear, “Hunter, Hunter, Mommy’s here now. You’re going to be just fine, little buddy. I’m here now. I love you, Hunter. Everything’s going to be okay.”

In that moment my entire essence became acutely aware that Hunter was already gone, but I prayed anyway. “God, please do something. Please. Help Hunter. Help him to breathe. Please, God. Please!”

I fell to my knees in desperation. The hospital gurney made a dull squeaking sound as the emergency room crew took turns giving Hunter CPR. Every time they stopped to see if his heart would beat again on its own, the line was flat. But they kept trying.

In Jim’s Own Words

I don’t remember if someone told me to go to Children’s Hospital instead of Warsaw Hospital, or if I just assumed it because Jill told her dad that Hunter should go to Children’s, but unfortunately that’s where I went.

The emergency room was busy when I got to Children’s, so I waited about fifteen minutes, which seemed like an hour. Finally I went up to the desk to find out what was going on. I asked the nurse if she knew when Hunter would be arriving. She just looked at me like she had no idea what I was talking about: “Mr. Kelly, let me check on that for you.” She got up and walked over to another nurse and then came back and said, “We have no information on Hunter right now, Mr. Kelly. Are you sure he’s coming here?”

At that point I started to get really upset. I explained to her that initially they were going to take Hunter to Warsaw Hospital but… As soon as I said, “Warsaw Hospital,” she interrupted, “Hold on a minute, Mr. Kelly. Let me see if I can find out what’s going on.”

She got up from her desk, out of my sight. Within seconds she came whipping around the corner and said, “Hunter’s at Warsaw Hospital. You need to go there right away.” I could tell something was wrong by the way she was acting.

As I ran out to my truck, I realized I had no idea where Warsaw Hospital was. I got directions from someone as fast as I could. I was so mad that I had wasted all that time at Children’s when Hunter was at Warsaw.

Once I got out of the city of Buffalo, I ended up behind a car that was moving along pretty fast. But then a cop went by and I saw him turn around in my rearview mirror. I thought to myself, he better not pull me over—the guy in front of me is going faster than I am. When I heard the siren and saw the flashing lights, I automatically slowed down, still thinking the cop would pass me and pull the car in front of me over. But he didn’t. He pulled me over.

When he got up to the car, I was about to explain what was going on when he said, “Oh thank God it’s you, Mr. Kelly. We got a call about your son and I’ve been looking for your vehicle. Please follow me. I’m going to escort you to Warsaw Hospital.”

He ran back to his police car and I followed him to the hospital. At that point I was scared.