2-Year-Old Pinned Under Tractor Remains in Critical Condition

Two-year-old Logan was helping his grandfather mow the lawn on April 21 when the unimaginable happened: The mower they were riding flipped over into a creek, trapping Logan under water.

Logan’s mother, Ashley Barnett, said she was at the home in the 600 block of Jasontown Rd. when the accident happened. She said she and her in-laws worked furiously to unpin Logan.  She doesn’t know how long Logan was stuck under the water, but she said she was on the phone with 911 for at least 15 minutes.

Logan’s grandfather was finally able to free Logan and Ashley said her mother in law gave the unresponsive toddler CPR until medics from the New Windsor Fire Company arrived.

Logan was taken to Carroll Hospital Center and then flown to Johns Hopkins Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), where he remains in critical condition today.

Ashley said she has high hopes that Logan’s status will be downgraded soon. She said that he has improved a lot in the past week and a half.

According to Ashley, Logan was on a ventilator and both of his lungs were collapsed. Now she said he is no longer on the ventilator and is breathing by himself. She said the third of three tubes was removed from his chest Wednesday and his lungs are now fully inflated. He also had several fractured ribs Ashley said, which have already begun to heal.

“He’s our little miracle baby,” Ashley said.

But Logan has a long way to go. He is now “storming” – the brains way of healing according to Ashley.  She said it’s awful to watch Logan experience the “storming” process, she said it looks like he’s having seizures.

“It’s horrible for us to watch,” Ashley said. “He screams, he cries, his body arches, his hands get in distorted positions.”

Ashley said that sometimes Logan seems to connect but other times doesn’t seem to be aware of his surroundings.

“He wakes up and sometimes I feel like he’s making a connection with me and other times he stares at me but it’s like he’s looking right through me,” Ashley said.

And when Logan is healthy enough to leave Johns Hopkins, he will spend at least another six months at Kennedy Krieger Ashley said. There he will receive intensive therapy to help him learn to walk again, eat again, talk again. 

“I’ve heard that Kennedy Krieger is an awesome facility, it’s just really scary,” Ashley said. “Maybe it’s scarier for me because I work with people with disabilities, you just never think your child will go through that.”

While at Kennedy Krieger, Ashley said only one parent can spend the night with Logan and his older brother, 5-year-old Lucas, will only be allowed to visit him for a brief period on Sundays.

Logan also has a 6-week-old sister and Ashley said it’s “really hard” managing two kids at home, one that is breastfeeding, while Logan remains in critical care at the hospital.

“It’s really hard for everyone,” Ashley told Patch. “Lucas doesn’t understand why his little brother isn’t at home.”

Ashley said that her and her husband, Edward, have been sharing time at the hospital with both of their parents. But she said very soon the parents will have to return to work. And Edward, a tractor salesman in Pa., will also have to return to work soon.  Ashley said that she probably won’t be able to return to her job at , a care program for adults with disabilities in Westminster.

The Carroll County community has already leapt into action to help support the Barnett family. Friends and family have already started raising funds to help the Barnett family with medical bills, costs to travel to Baltimore every day, and other costs associated with getting Logan healthy.

Ashley said they already received their first medical-related bill -- $13,000 for the helicopter flight from Carroll Hospital Center to Johns Hopkins. Ashley said they need to submit it to their insurance company still, but she’s not sure how much of Logan’s care will be covered.

The family finds comfort in prayer Ashley said. According to Ashley, Logan is on prayer lists across the country.

“Churches all over the nation are praying for Logan,” Ashley said. “People message me private prayers and there’s even prayer Facebook page a cousin started.”

The following fundraisers are currently taking place and more are being planned.

• In this fundraiser, 40 percent of the proceeds from Tupperware sales will go to the Barnett Family. 
• Ledo’s Pizza will host a fundraising day for the Barnett Family on Tuesday, May 21. Ten percent of the profits on that day will benefit the Barnett Family. 
• Ooo Lala Photography is offering mini sessions at Union Mills Homestead on May 18 from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., all donations will be gifted to the Barnett Family.