© The Phonesavanh Family
Bou Bou Phonesavanh
My son will be 2 years old next week. He's recovering from a total of eight surgeries, one of which was to reattach his nose to his face.
For those who don't know, it's been over five months since the night
a SWAT team broke into the house in which we were staying. It was the middle of the night, and even though our minivan with car seats inside was parked in the driveway and our children's toys were in the yard, the SWAT officers claimed they had no way of knowing there were kids inside. We were staying with relatives and my whole family was sleeping in one room. My husband and I, our three daughters and our baby (nicknamed "Baby Bou Bou") in his crib.
Dressed like soldiers, they broke down the door.
The SWAT officers tossed a flashbang grenade into the room. It landed in Baby Bou Bou's crib, blowing a hole in his face and chest that took months to heal and covering his entire body with scars.
On Monday, we were devastated and heartbroken by the grand jury's decision to not charge any of the officers involved in injuring our son. I relive that night every time I hold my son, see my daughters afraid and watch my husband in pain. Bou Bou will be 2 years old next week, and my gift to him will be my continued commitment to demand justice for what was done to him. We will not give up, we will not remain silent - we will continue to fight.
Bou Bou's birthday is October 14. We are very happy we can celebrate with him - after the raid, we weren't sure if he would make it.
But our joy and relief he is alive can't take away any of the psychological damage done by that raid. We've been trying to find a new normal ever since. But it's been hard.
First Bou Bou was in intensive care and we spent all our time at the hospital, not knowing whether he would live.
He came out of the medically induced coma only to be subjected to surgery after surgery. My tiny son has had eight operations in the last five months. In the most recent one, surgeons opened up his chest to scrape away all the scar tissue that was attached to the bone and reopened his face to reattach his nose. And it's far from over.
Doctors tell us that my son will have to have double reconstructive surgeries twice a year, every year for the next 20 years.
Comment: The authoritarian followers running school systems in the US have become absolutely insane and are punishing children for nothing more than using their imaginations.
Hysteria! Elementary school boys suspended for pointing pencils and making machine gun noises
Hysterical USA - 7 year old Brooklyn student accused of eating breakfast pastry 'into shape of a gun': suspended for two days
Hysteria: Philadelphia fifth-grader searched, threatened, called a murderer over paper gun