‘Further along than I thought’: Family hopeful about recovery for Wichita boy hit by car

Seeing a stovetop pan with the remnants of eggs this December was a blessing to a west Wichita family.

To the parents of 11-year-old Nathan Veith, it was a sign their son could one day heal from a traumatic brain injury. Making eggs had always been a normal part of his routine before he was hit by a car in September.

The fifth-grader was riding his bicycle to class at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Schools when he was hit in the crosswalk at Central and Redbarn, about 1.5 miles from home. He flew in the air before crashing to the ground. The driver was cited for running a red light.

Nathan was rushed to the hospital with suspected life-threatening brain injuries. He was sedated for several days while doctors waited and hundreds of people prayed for the swelling in his brain to go down.

Doctors suspect the fractured bones in his face and skull allowed his swollen brain to heal more easily, according to Nathan’s father, Matt Veith. After about a week, the swelling went down enough to wake Nathan. It was the start of a long road to recovery.

“He literally has to relearn everything,” Veith said.

An army of people in Wichita and the Catholic community have been there to help all along the way. People have done everything from financial donations to helping get Nathan’s siblings home from school.

Within minutes of being set up, a meal train for two months was full and people were texting asking other ways to help. One person ended up cutting the Veith lawn, another helped with transportation to Nebraska where Nathan would do rehab. They also received tons of cards, some with trinkets, including a rosary made by the nurse who saw Nathan get hit and ran to his aid.

The night of the accident, hundreds, including Wichita firefighters who answered the 911 call for Nathan, gathered to pray at the Veiths’ church, St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church.

All the support and donations were too many to count.

“It was overwhelming in a good way,” Angela Veith said. “We didn’t have enough things to give people to do that wanted to help … it was very, very humbling.”

She added: “I’ve been writing thank you cards but I know there is no way to thank everybody or thank enough.”

On Oct. 10, after nearly three weeks at Ascension Via Christi St. Francis, Nathan was transferred to Madonna Rehabilitation Hospitals in Lincoln, Nebraska.

It took until after Thanksgiving for Nathan to speak again. Still, he hadn’t progressed enough elsewhere for doctors to be comfortable sending him home.

His stint in rehab was extended by two weeks.

During that time, things started to click.

“One minute he wouldn’t know something and the next he would,” Angela Veith said. “Like he went from not being able to say his name to he could say his name. So we are very hopeful because it’s only been three months. In the grand scheme of things that’s no time at all for a brain injury.”

Nathan came home on Dec. 17.

“There’s not much better of a Christmas present that we could have asked for than to be together as a family,” Matt Veith said.

The Veiths weren’t sure how the homecoming would be. Nathan had been struggling with loud noises, and he has five siblings, something that usually isn’t conducive to peace and quiet. But going home was a good thing.

“It jump-started a lot of stuff,” Angela Veith said.

There’s still a lot of progress to come and changes to get used to. For example, 13-year-old Amelia is still adjusting to losing her spot at the dinner table so Nathan could have help from his mother when he eats.

They’ve also installed a baby gate at the top of the stairs and have a baby monitor in Nathan’s room. There was concern he might wander during the night, but so far that hasn’t been a problem.

Physically, it’s hard to notice much from the accident.

Nathan’s only scar from the accident is on one of his knuckles. He runs up the stairs with ease and plays Pokemon with the youngest, 8-year-old Jonathan or Jonny, just as he did before.

“Just a little bit,” Jonny said when asked if they play like they used to. “Probably going to start playing more since he’s getting better.”

But there’s obvious signs of a lingering brain injury: Nathan often loses his thought mid-sentence and has trouble remembering and pronouncing words.

“I’ve had a big memory thing taken from me,” he said. “I don’t know how it happened. But I just don’t have a big memory.”

Matt Veith said: “You have a bigger memory than you realize.”

There’s no telling whether Nathan will heal completely, but the Veiths are optimistic.

“Every day has been a leap and a bound,” Angela Veith said.

They are even more hopeful because of the years left that his brain has to develop. The human brain isn’t fully developed until the mid 20s, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

Living on one income as Angela Veith stayed with her son during recovery could have made gifts for six children a burdensome thought. But Veith’s coworkers at Ascension Via Christi helped get Christmas gifts for the children. The presents included Pokemon gifts that Nathan wanted for Christmas.

There’s no clear timeline for Veith to go back to work. Nathan is getting ready to start rehab in Kansas City and there are plans for him to start going back to school for part of one day a week.

A couple days before Christmas, presents sat under the tree and Angela Veith had been cooking. A couple of pans still sat on the six-burner, two-oven stove that Veith, an avid cooker, admires greatly.

The stove is in full swing for the holidays.

Nathan cooking eggs was a welcome surprise, though his parents don’t want him cooking for himself just yet.

“It was just like,” Matt Veith said, trailing off. “He never left,” Angela Veith finished.

Matt Veith added: “It’s probably the single biggest (sign) that he might be further along than I thought.”