Joshua's Law

My son Joshua was shaken 10 - 15 times on January 1st 2006. He has suffered severe permanent brain injury; everything except his brain stem was permanently damaged. He had two front sub-dural hematomias, and an old bleeding in his cerebellum. He also suffered a skull fracture, and severe bilateral retinal hemorrhaging. The retinal bleeding was so severe that Josh is now only able to see shadows.

A feeding tube had to be surgically placed into his belly, due to the injury leaving him unable to coordinate swallowing with breathing. Joshua also ended up having two Craniotomies, and needed a Ventricular shunt placed into his head. The shunt is a tube with a one way valve that drains all reoccurring extra fluid from his head into his bladder so he can urinate it out. This way he doesn’t need to have doctors continuously going into his head, and giving him opportunities to get infections. Joshua’s overall prognosis is grim, doctors predict that he will keep getting ill due to his weak immune system, and will never live beyond his twentieth birthday. No Mother should have to look at her child and know that her days with him are numbered. Joshua was injured on January first 2006; it’s now over two years later and he is almost three years old. He was recently evaluated to be at a two-three month developmental level.

He cannot hold up his own head, sit, roll over, stand, walk, talk, or see anything more than shadows. Doctor suspect that Joshua will be frozen at this level and may not develop any farther. Even though Joshua didn’t die, he was still robbed of his life. He has lost the chance to enjoy playing with his sister and brother. I don’t get to tuck my baby in at night, because he needs 24 hour nursing care and has to live in a nursing facility. He will never be able to speak, I will never hear him say “I love you mom”. I will never get the chance to see him get married, and he will never have the joy of having children. He has also been robbed time for nurturing; I can not play with my baby.

He can not grow up in a loving home; instead he has to grow up with nurses and doctors. Suffering trying to do the simple things, like picking up his arms, and holding things. No mother should ever have to see her child on a respirator, evaluate her child’s quality of life, make a decision to sign a Do Not Resuscitate document, or have their child be given last rights for an injury that could have been prevented.

This is way I'm proposing "Joshua's Law." Joshua's Law would make all convicted child abusers become nationally registered. We have a right to know who is safe around our children and who is not!