SAN DIEGO (CBS8)- After spending a quarter of his life in the hospital, the toddler left paralyzed by a teen drunk driver is getting ready to go home Tuesday.
Jacob Wallis, the boy's father, told CBS8, "It's going to feel great, it's like taking a newborn baby home again. We're pretty much going to restart from where we are because he doesn't know how to talk, he can't walk. He can't do any of that. It's just starting from scratch again."
Izaiah has spent more than 200 days at Rady Children's Hospital. In October 2010, a 17-year-old driver who was drunk and high on drugs, hit Izaiah as his grandfather strolled him down a sidewalk in Oceanside just after 9-am. The accident left Izaiah's legs paralyzed and also affected his vision. The 17-year-old driver pleaded guilty to DUI, and was sentenced to the maximum 480 days in juvenile custody.
Jacob Wallis said, "We've been thru a lot. Izaiah's been through a lot. Even though we're going home we still have a long road ahead of us. Izaiah still can't breathe on his own and will continue to need a ventilator at home. He also gets fed formula through a tube in his stomach.
No one knows what's ahead for Izaiah, but his parents are hoping for a miracle. His dad said, "I would like to see him running around again just like the little boy I used to have and be able to play catch and football with him. He was at the stage where he'd hide from us and we'd have to go find him. That was really fun, and we just miss all those memories and joys that we had with him, and we would really like to start sharing those with him again."
The charity Passion4Kids is helping raise money to buy the family a new home, which they can outfit with ramps and wider hallways for Izaiah's wheelchair and medical equipment. They're asking for a $10 donation, or whatever you can contribute to their case.
Izaiah's parents say they are so grateful for the community's support and are supporting a proposed "Izaiah's Law", which would add felony DUI causing great bodily harm or death to the list of crimes in which juveniles can be tried as an adult. To learn more about their campaign go to www.izaiahwallis.com.
