***************WARNING!!!***************
This page contains very disturbing and gruesome pictures of Derek’s foot. If gore bothers you, please leave this page now. If not, please scroll down.
The pictures are coming…
My Derek before the accident…and during…and I am sure he will be like this when his leg and foot are all healed. He is an amazing little boy.
**Click on the picture if you want to make it bigger to get an even better look.**
I took this picture of Derek’s foot while in the first hospital I took him to after he got hit by a car. He broke his tibia and fibula and got this horrible gash. It is maybe 30 minutes to an hour after it happened.
April 27, 2012: Derek’s foot right after the accident. Blood was filling it in a bit, but I could see his bones when we were at the hospital.
This is a picture of Derek’s foot 3 1/2 weeks after the accident happened. It is one week after the skin graft was done. There are a few stitches left where the wound exposed the bones. The donor skin has holes in it, making it look like snake skin or graph paper, but over time, the skin cells will fill in the holes.
May 21, 2012: The first time we had seen the wound since the accident.
This is a picture of his foot two weeks after the skin graft happened. You can see that the foot is starting to heal around the edges, the stitches have disintegrated, and you can see more areas of red, which means the skin in starting to grow in. In this picture, there is more tissue filling in the wound as a whole.
May 29, 2012: Derek’s foot two weeks post skin graft. You can really see the depth of the wound here, the light pink areas where it is healing, the dark pink areas where the skin is filling in the skin graft, and the matrix of the graft itself.
May 29, 2012: This is just another angle of his foot two weeks post skin graft. You can see the skin graft pretty well here, and how it is filling in.
May 29, 2012: This is a third angle of his foot 2 weeks post skin graft. You can see the depth of the wound a little bit here as well.
Today we went in for a routine wound cleaning and cast change, but instead, the doc came in and did a quick inspection. He told me that these white areas where the skin looks like snake skin are areas the skin graft is not taking. He thinks we might be able to wait and see if the skin fills in regardless, but the scar tissue may grow back to thick, and we would need to do another skin graft. I think he is mulling over the possibility of doing a skin graft now,but I know he wants to avoid causing Derek any more pain. These donor sites are painful.
June 1, 2012: This is a good overview picture of his foot. You can see some of the areas that are white where the graft is not taking.
June 1, 2012: This is a close-up of Derek’s foot. Here you can see an area in the middle where the graft is not taking. This is only a small area. The pink areas, while gross looking, are areas of new skin.
June 1, 2012: This is a better view of the side of his foot. You can see more areas where the graft is not taking.
June 5, 2012: You can see slight improvement here, and some of the areas where the skin graft wasn’t taking before is showing signs of skin growth. Amazing how quickly things can change!
I have been changing the dressings on his foot every day now. I am amazed every time I take the bandages off the amount of healing that has taken place. You always hear people say how quickly young ones bounce back. It is so true! Below is a picture of his foot from last night after his bath. The changes are amazing, huh?
June 13, 2012: Here is a picture after his bath that shows amazing healing. The accident took place just 6 1/2 weeks ago! There is still a long way to go, but he is doing great!
Here is a picture of Derek’s foot at his last appointment. The dark pink area is still exposed tissue that needs to heal. Once that closes, we can remove the dressings! Amazing how quickly young ones heal, isn’t it?
June 19, 2012: The red is the exposed tissue, the pink is the closed up, new skin, and that purple mark is called a friction blister. It is a little like a bruise, and is not in any way a problem or issue.
Tomorrow it will be 8 weeks after the accident. It is amazing how well a 3-year-old can heal. Here is a picture of his foot as it is today. I am showing you two of them, because today, for the first time, he went swimming for two hours without his boot or his dressings! The first picture is the foot at the pool, outside. The second one is after his bath tonight. While it looks so much better than it did, I have to say, it was still hard to see the difference of my own son’s foot and the foot of another 3-year-old boy that was there. It was a reminder of the differences that will always exist. As a mom, it is hard to see a visual reminder that your child is not “perfect.” I don’t think it bother’s Derek at all, though, nor do I think it ever will.
June 28. 2012: This is Derek’s Foot at the pool. This is the first time he spent any real amount of time without his cast, boot, or bandages, and just went natural. He was a little nervous and apprehensive, but he still had a good time. You can see some dry skin and scabbing, but only two very small spots of exposed tissue left. Most of what you see is the scarring from the skin graft that looks really good!
June 28, 2012: This is a better and clearer picture of his foot. There is a scab towards the top of the foot that is pretty bad, but it is healing fine. You can still see the discrepancy of tissue levels throughout the foot. It should take another 18 months for the healing to be 100% complete.
Here it is! The picture of his foot the day we are told the doc doesn’t need to see him anymore. You can see there are some scabby-looking things and some dried skin on it, but nothing serious. It will be another year and a half or so before he is 100% healed, and I will continue to add updates to this page as things progress, but really, after everything he went through, all he will have is a relatively minor scar. His big toe cannot move upwards as there is no tendon there, but we are going to get reconstructive surgery to correct that. Until then, he will have a slight deformity that you can kind of see in these pictures. It is not very obvious, but still there.
July 3, 2012: While it still has quite a bit of healing to do, every part of his foot is covered with skin. He is able to walk around with no bandage or boot now!You can sort of see the deformity here: his big toe pulls downward and towards his other toes.
July 3, 2012: The side angle looks so much better, but from this angle you can see that we have a lot of haling to do. The fact that there is no more exposed tissue and that he can run around like a normal boy, for the most part is huge!
Here is a picture of his foot from his last Doctor’s appointment on July 31, 2012.
July 31, 2012: You can clearly see that there is still a lot of tissue growth that needs to happen, but the healing of the skin is almost complete!
II decided to add a more recent picture today just to show how he continues to heal. Usually I take pictures right after the bath, but today I got him while taking a nap! 
The final scabs are healing up nicely, but they break open when he wears shoes, so when he goes out, he wears on shoe on his left foot and on the right, he is Shoeless Joe!
August 20, 2012: His skin is dry and scaly, but almost completely filled in. He just needs some tissue to fill everything out. You can start to see some of the permanent scaring that will be there when it is all over – a small price to pay for being alive and well!
Damn, looks painful.
May the force be with the little guy.
Thank you very much! He is tough as nails. All good thoughts mean a lot.
WOW!! Bless his heart. Poor little guy, I can’t believe how well he did with this. Well he MUST be an Andrews LOL. This were hard to look at knowing that this is my Sweet innocent Nephew! He is such a cute and sweet wonderful kid…all four of them are no doubt, it’s just insane, sad and painful to know that he was suffering. I am SO glad that it’s finally over for you BOTH!! Well for all of you, but you and Derek had it the worst. Glad too see the healing though. God Bless you all for surviving this one, I am not sure if I could handle that one happening.
love you all.
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Praying for his recovery. Foot is looking good.
Thank you! All prayers help. He is doing great! It still bothers him some, though. Glad to have you here!
I hope that your child will still recover. For me, your little man is a hero that he passed through all this pain. Also I admire him very much because 1 month ago, I had an accident and I was hit by a truck. The injury that I have is similar with the one of Derek. I know how much pain I have and for this I admire him, and right now seeing the time he recovers, I have some some hopes for myself. I will pray for him!
Thank you for saying so! He is one tough little guy. My heart stopped when I read your were hit by a truck. I can only imagine your pain. I know what I saw Derek go through, so I have real empathy for you and your pain. If you have any questions you think I can answer, please feel free to email me. I will do my best to answer you effectively. I know Derek has healed quickly and has had remarkable success with his treatment. I sincerely hope the same goes for you. As Derek is in your prayers, know that you are also in ours. Keep me posted on your progress, would you? I am sincerely interested! Take care and thanks for visiting Kiddos and Pups!
Kelly,
Thank you for sharing this blog. I found it as I was researching more about skin grafts. In June 2012 my daughter Emilee and a friend were out in a Polaris Ranger when they lost control, and flipped. Emilees friend was thrown from the vehicle, but when it turned over, Emilee’s foot was caught underneath and she was trapped. It was a crush injury. It broke every bone in her foot, and degloved it. Her injury looks very much like your sons. I see so many similarities. Emilee can no longer move her big toe either as all tissue was ripped from it, and it is now permanently fused. We are now almost a year removed from the accident and it is amazing to see where we’ve come from….but at tines I feel as if there is far to go too. We remain in rehab 3x per week to try and get Em to walk right….which is asking a lot given what we’ve been thru. She is also a little miracle, and such a trooper. Emilee was 10 when the accident happened, but throughout it all, even knowing she was most likely going to loose her foot, she remained positive. Emilee was training for the IronKids triathlon when the accident happened… and now that she has recently been cleared to return to the water, she hopes to get clearance soon to actually run distance so she can resume training. Thank you so much for sharing your sons story…it dies help knowing that we parents the only ones….bless your family! From another family walking the same road, may God continually give you strength and healing….
Mindi
Mindi,
Wow! It sounds like your daughter is really a trooper! What a horrible accident! I am so sorry she and your family had to endure such an awful thing. I know how hard it is to watch your child go through all the work to get healed and to get better. Derek is doing great, and for the most part is a normal boy, but his balance is off because of the big toe no longer having a tendon to pick it up, and the wound sometimes still hurts. The trauma that is felt by our family, while certainly dulled, is still not completely healed. I am sure you can relate to that with all you have gone through.
I would love to hear from you more often! Please keep me posted on her progress. I would love to hear how she is doing from time to time, and how you and your family are coping. My prayers will include you all from here on out. Good luck and thank you for visiting Kiddos and Pups!
Kelly