Kassy Hovenga and her husband, Lee, were excited to bring their 7-week-old baby, McKenna, out into the world for the first time on May 2. After packing up all her kiddo's things [1], the Iowa-based mom and her baby girl headed out to Lee's softball game. While getting situated behind a fence next to the third baseline, the unthinkable happened: a rogue softball came out of nowhere and struck McKenna in the head.
In a Facebook post [2], McKenna's aunt, Laura Heise, explained how her parents had no time to react to the situation:
Another pair of teams were playing, and Lee was helping Kassy get situated with a blanket over her so Kassy could breastfeed. Lee had his back to the field and never saw the ball coming. The ball came over the fence — and either hit McKenna first or hit Kassy first. We're really not sure as it happened so fast and Kassy was looking down at McKenna as she was feeding.
Laura went on to explain that as much as we try to keep our children safe, sometimes the unthinkable happens.
"I just wanted to be clear that they were in a safe location, this was her first outing other than to see family or go to the grocery store or doctor's appointments . . . Unfortunately, we can't bubble wrap our babies as much as we may want."
What's even more upsetting is that they didn't realize McKenna was even hit at first.
"Unfortunately, we can't bubble wrap our babies as much as we may want."
"What's puzzling is that the fractures are on the side that was next to Kassy, not the outward side," wrote Laura. "Kassy has a large lump on her bicep where the ball [hit her]. McKenna didn't begin to scream until a few seconds afterward. They were unaware that she was even hit until the large lump formed. It happened that fast."
McKenna was immediately airlifted to St. Mary's Hospital at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota where doctors began to assess the damage. There, they determined that she had a fractured skull and two brain bleeds.
Ever since her diagnosis, baby McKenna has been fighting for her life. Initially, McKenna was on a ventilator and having seizures that lasted up to an hour. But according to a recent Facebook post [3], she's finally started to breathe on her own but is still battling seizures. Thankfully, the neurosurgery team said that the swelling in her brain has gone down and that she may "just need more time to heal."
Although McKenna is improving each day, the Hovenga family still faces a long road to recovery and opened up a family fundraiser, Healing For McKenna [4], to help cover medical bills.
"It is so very hard to wait and wait and not know," wrote Laura. "So day by day it is. We know it's going to take time. It's just hard."