Just days after Christmas, a Georgia family experienced every parent’s worst nightmare: their three children were involved in a farming accident. On December 28, Briar and Bryce Rudeseal were life-flighted to Tift Regional Medical Center, then Wolfson Children’s Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida.
According to local news reports, three children were playing inside the cotton module builder at the family’s home when something went terribly wrong. They got hung up in the hydraulic press inside of the machine and were rendered unconscious. Thankfully, their father, Brandan Rudeseal, was quick to action and resuscitated both Bryce and Briar, who reportedly went only a short time without air.
Reports indicate that Briar suffered severe head trauma and Bryce was initially unresponsive until arriving at the hospital. The third child is reported to have suffered minor injuries and was not hospitalized.
After arriving in Jacksonville, a family member, Brian Rudeseal, posted on Facebook that both children were fighting nurses and doing better. Soon afterward, Bryce was ventilated with a broken collar bone, fractured vertebrate, and ribs. Briar, however, remained sedated with cranial pressure and a casted leg.
Since the accident, Brian Rudeseal has continued to post updates on social media. The most recent update available from the family member is that, “I am confident in my mind she [Briar] is a Rudeseal and is tougher than most kids her age and gone shake this off and bounce back and be her complete self and be home very soon just a lil bump in the road!”
As for Bryce, he was “doing awesome yesterday and is walking almost on his own and in therapy hitting a blown up latex glove back and forth … He is doing awesome just got to build up his strength and he will be good to go!”
Family and friends have asked for continued prayers. There is an account at the Farmers and Merchants Bank in Nashville, Georgia, that can take donations on behalf of the family.
»Related: Sun, dust, and sleep: Farmers’ hazards even on the open rural road
