SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — The family of Levi Wright, the toddler who nearly drowned after falling into a southern Utah creek, shared Tuesday that they hope to wean him off a breathing tube in the coming days.
Kallie Wright, the boy’s mother, posted on Facebook that their goal is to remove the child’s breathing tube this week to “see if he will tolerate breathing on his own.” This would mark a major step in what’s been an emotional rollercoaster for the Utah family.
Levi Wright’s family taking it ‘day by day’ as toddler remains hospitalized after near-drowning
In her most recent social media update, Wright said that Levi will soon receive another 24-hour electroencephalogram test, which monitors electrical activity in the brain. The child is also scheduled to undergo a second brain scan Friday to better understand the damage he suffered while underwater.
Levi, the son of rodeo star Spencer Wright, fell into a swift-moving creek in Beaver County on May 21 while playing on his toy tractor.
Emergency crews pulled the boy from the water roughly a mile downstream, and a helicopter flew him to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, where he has been on a ventilator since.
On Thursday, the child briefly woke up from a coma, Kallie Wright said. The event brought a surge of hope, but the next day the result of an MRI scan “wasn’t good,” the family said.
Since the accident, Levi’s family has received a tidal wave of support, according to a family spokesperson, Mindy Clark. A benefit auction featuring hundreds of items, including many horses, has been set up to help the Wrights.
While the rodeo community is pulling for Levi, so too are school children overseas. A photo shared by Clark shows a classroom of students in Uganda holding posters of Levi riding his tractor and the T-Rex dinosaur that’s become his mascot.
Over the weekend, Kallie Wright said the family is taking everything “day by day,” seeking as much medical expertise as possible and exploring the therapies that have been brought to their attention.
Levi belongs to a family of Utah rodeo champions. His grandfather, Bill Wright, is a ProRodeo Hall of Famer, and his father is currently ranked No. 40 in the world.
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