Community rallies around family after infant is burned

CLAYTON - When an entire community rallies around someone in a time of need, it can make a world of difference. Just ask Brandy and Austin Franklin.

Brandy Franklin knows firsthand just how giving Rabun County can be after her infant son was burned while in daycare Aug. 7. The injury, Brandy learned, happened when hot water was spilled on 3-month-old Bayler shortly before she arrived at daycare. At first, she didn't realize the severity of the situation.

"My brain wasn't processing it," Franklin said. "I wasn't thinking that he was about to be flown to (Grady Memorial Hospital), that our lives were about to change forever. I was just thinking someone had dumped a little bit of water on him, but we'd go home and be fine."

She soon learned that the school had called 911. When EMS arrived on the scene, she overheard paramedics say that second-and third-degree burns covered 50 percent of her child's body. That's when she realized the situation was serious.

But even then it wasn't immediately clear how dire the situation was. The worried mother initially thought Bayler would be taken to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville - he was instead taken by helicopter to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta.

At Grady, Bayler stayed in intensive care for 11 days. Although released to return home, Franklin said, Bayler will likely have permanent scarring. Currently undergoing therapy, Bayler will soon begin wearing special compression garments to reduce the impact of the scarring.

The accident permanently affected the entire Franklin family. Brandy Franklin left her job at Northeast Georgia Medical Center to care for Bayler. Austin Franklin changed positions at Georgia Power Co. to allow him to work more, and therefore earn more. Bayler is unable to be out in the sun for extended periods of time. He will never return to daycare, Brandy Franklin said.

Since the accident, however, an outpouring of community support has made the unbearable bearable.

"So many churches, and just individuals, have reached out and told us they're praying for us," she said. "It's been amazing and humbling."

The lake associations in Rabun County have reached out and provided support for the family, and friends have also provided much-needed support by providing a helping hand around the house, by bringing food over shortly after the Franklins returned home and by other acts of kindness.

Austin Franklin said his employer also helped immeasurably after the incident. While Bayler was staying at Grady, Georgia Power provided the family with living quarters near the hospital. And now that he's back at work, his employers offer him a great amount of understanding, in case he needs to leave at a moment's notice for an emergency.

"With the hurricanes and natural disasters and everything bad going on in the world, it's nice to know there's still good in it, too," Brandy Franklin said.