x
Breaking News
More () »

Teen's emotional journey to give thanks

On November 22, 2000, he and his family were in a horrible car crash in McKinney.

In a video that went viral just last month, a teenager in Utah named Caleb Johnson, shaves his head to show his zig-zag scar, his reminder of the day his life changed forever.

On November 22, 2000, he and his family were in a horrible car crash in McKinney. Caleb was only 13 months old. He and his four brothers and sisters survived. Their parents did not.

Now, 17 years later, Caleb, who suffered a traumatic brain injury, wanted to find the nurse who found a way to save a dying child, by putting the medication he needed, directly into the marrow of his leg.

The search brought him to Medical City McKinney. And when he walked in the door with his brothers and sisters, the nurses were waiting.

"You're a lot bigger," a nurse laughed.

He gave them each a collection of photos, and thank you's. All the right words he could find.

"The words are not enough, but here they are anyway, thank you," he said.

"I think part of the incredible thing about this whole experience is to realize that you guys remembered us too," another nurse said.

"I felt like a call or a letter wasn't good enough," Caleb said.

Later in the afternoon, Caleb would also get to meet the Children's Hospital surgeon who saved him with that zig-zag scar.

He would not get to meet the nurse he as looking for. Her name was Dennie Miller. She died 10 years ago. Her coworkers felt like she was there too.

"She would be just in the moment. She would relish this. She would love it. Well, she's got a good seat I'm sure. She's watching down on us I know," a nurse said.

"I just felt loved in a way, that they just that they cared so much for me and were going to do anything to make sure I had everything I needed," a sister, Kirsten Moody said.

"Every single Thanksgiving I have thought about this family. So I would say the bond started immediately," Shelly Morris, a nurse at Medical City McKinney.

The bond still lives, all these years later, even if Caleb can't quite explain it.

"I don't know how to put this in words, but yeah, it's really cool," Caleb said.

But then again no words were needed. His trip back to McKinney to say thank you spoke loudly enough on its own.

Before You Leave, Check This Out