On April 20, 2007, my son Christian Hester was shaken by my ex-husband Jeremy Nash. Christian was taken by ambulance to the hospital, and then had to be careflighted to Dallas Children's Medical Center. When we arrived at Children's the doctors diagnosed him with Baby Shaken Syndrome. My baby boy had blood on the brain and behind his eyes. At 14mths old he had to fight for his life. Christian experienced a Traumatic brain injury (TBI) from this that will effect him for the rest of his life. It is a miracle from God that my sweet boy lived through this traumatic abuse. He developed seizures as a result of the swelling on his brain from being shaken. He was blind and had paralysis on his left side. He still experiences a slight weakness on his left side. This injury caused Christian to have to learn how to speak and eat again through therapy. Before the TBI he was learning to walk and talk. He could say da da, ma ma, and babble as babies do in their own language. 

In June of 2018 he started having seizures, but before then he had not had one seizure since July 2008. We are still trying to get his seizures under control (as I am writing this it has been 1 week since he had a seizure). To do that he has to take 4 different seizure medicines 3 times a day. He will more than likely have to take seizure meds for the rest of his life. Christian gets over stimulated in any way, not enough sleep, if he gets sick with a virus can even trigger a seizure. The doctors are still not 100% sure what can trigger his seizures. Christian has to wear pull ups at 15 because he can not control his bladder when he has an epileptic seizure. Two years ago They diagnosed him with Lennox Gastaut Syndrome. This means he does not just have one type of seizure. He has focal, mouth, and tonic clonic seizures. These seizures drain his energy and make him very fatigue. 

When he has a seizure it affects his memory and his ability to learn and comprehend during school. He continues to work on his anger issues, meltdowns, and learning disabilities in school. Because he has frontal lobe damage he handles his anger different than most people. Christian is supposed to be in the 10th grade, but during homeschooling he does 1st and 2nd grade curriculum. These epileptic episodes continue to keep him from progressing like his fellow peers his age. When he took an IQ test last year from his neuro psychologist he scored a 45 for verbal and 56 for visual. She also told us that Christian's intellectual between 5 and 8 years old. The doctors do believe his learning disabilities are caused by his TBI. 

Christian will be 16 years old on January 27th, and it is sad to think of all the things my son would have been doing if this abuse had not happened to him. He would be doing things like teenagers his age; such as learning how to drive, prom, sports, hanging out with friends, and planning for college. My baby boy can't do these things because he is not intellectually 15. My biggest heart break is that Christian will never be able to grow up and have his dream job of becoming an police officer. That has been his dream since he was in Kindergarten. How do tell a child that he can never have this job because of his TBI. I have not brought myself to tell him yet. I try to encourage him to work hard to achieve his goals. I do believe he will live with me and his step dad for the rest of his life. He may never be able to independently take care of or provide for himself. 

Christian is a caring, artistic, smart, loving boy who did not deserve his future  decided for him. He should be living the life of a teenager, and not the life of a 5-8 year old. Jeremy Nash was only sentenced to twenty years by the judge. Jeremy made a decision on April 20th that determined my son's future, and that is just not fair. Christian deserves JUSTICE for everything he has to go through by this man. That justice is that this abusive man that caused this to serve his full sentence of twenty years behind bars. The TDCJ PAROLE BOARD can give Christian his justice that he deserves.