South Texas' Nonprofit Air Ambulance
In December 2020, Rockport resident Preston Simpson suffered a severe brain injury in an ATV accident. Shortly after the accident, Preston was airlifted to Driscoll Children’s Hospital by a flight crew from HALO-Flight, a nonprofit emergency air ambulance that provides helicopter medical transport services to the people of South Texas. Nine months later, 2-year-old Preston got the chance Wednesday to visit the HALO-Flight office, tour a helicopter and meet the flight crew from the day of the accident.
"Today is an extremely big deal to us because last time we had seen him this close to the helicopter we didn't know if he was going to come home," Tyson Simpson, Preston's father, said. "Today we'll be able to leave here having fun instead of worrying about him."
Since the accident, Preston has made a tremendous recovery. He was seen Wednesday running around with a huge smile on his face as he checked out every inch of a HALO-Flight helicopter. Preston's parents said he still struggles with speech, which is controlled by the part of the brain that he injured the most. "When the recovery first started, we thought Preston wasn't going to be able raise his head up or walk," Tyson said. "It's just phenomenal how much he has progressed and how quickly. We're hopeful that (speech) comes back soon, but other than that he's running, climbing and doing 2-year-old things now."
Flight Nurse Keely Maxey said it warmed her heart to see Preston running around the office and it reminded her that this was the reason why HALO-Flight flies rescue flights. "It's great to know they have an extremely good team at HALO-Flight," Tyson said. "We're extremely thankful for them and it's really nice that they still interact with us and were able to give us a tour today."
For updates on Preston's progress, visit Prayers For Preston on Facebook.
Rockport 2-year-old meets with HALO-Flight crew who rescued him (caller.com)
Published by: Christopher Howley, Corpus Christi Caller Times
