REXBURG — Four-year-old Carter Grover has persevered through more than most adults will in their entire lives.
At seven months old, Carter contracted a virus as a complication from COVID-19, which caused him to become paralyzed from the neck down.
“He had contracted COVID from the daycare that he was at, which caused him to get this virus called transverse myelitis,” says Katherine Grover, Carter’s mom. “We had miraculously made an almost full recovery from that.”
According to the Mayo Clinic, transverse myelitis is a neurological disorder that results in inflammation of both sides of one section of the spinal cord. This can cause pain, muscle weakness, sensory problems, bladder and bowel dysfunction, and paralysis.
“We did a lot of physical therapy three times a week, and occupational therapy every week. It’s been a wild ride. He just started walking again in April of 2024 last year. He was walking again and quickly learned how to run,” Grover says. “Every three months we would go to Lehi, Utah, down to the new Primary Children’s Clinic, which is incredible, to get Botox shots in his joints to keep him from stiffening up.”
Even through the rollercoaster of health setbacks, Grover says Carter is a loving, funny, and energetic kid.
“Carter is just so happy to be alive. He’s got a little attitude of course, but who doesn’t these days? He loves dancing, he loves music, he loves all animals,” Grover says. “He’s just so playful and happy, and he always needs to be right there with me in everything that I do.”
On Sept. 22, Carter’s grandmother, Laurie Peterson, was driving him to his physical therapy appointment, which he goes to three times a week in Rexburg, when she suffered a medical emergency while driving near the intersection on Salem Road at 3000 North.
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“She suffered a stroke that led to her being unable to stop properly at the stop sign and was hit by another oncoming vehicle. It did, unfortunately, involve a hay-baler,” Grover says. “We do feel like the vehicle rolled, but we aren’t sure. They were both wearing seatbelts at the time.”
Six people were transported to the hospital, including Carter and his grandmother.
Grover was at Costco when she received the call from law enforcement, learning that her mother and son had been in a serious car crash and were both unconscious at the scene.
“They were rushed to EIRMC in Idaho Falls, and somehow (Peterson) had become coherent enough to give them my name and phone number,” Grover says. “Shortly after that, she crashed and had to be intubated.”
Shortly after being rushed to EIRMC, Carter was life-flighted to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City.
“The accident caused a spinal cord tear in the C1 and C2 of (Carter’s) spine, and his C5 and C6 were also damaged,” Grover explains. “Due to the severity of the spinal cord tear, it has left Carter paralyzed from the neck down, and he is unable to breathe on his own.”
According to Katherine, doctors have given Carter a difficult prognosis. Still, the family says they are choosing to keep hope alive.
“The chances of him being able to walk again and breathe on his own again are pretty slim,” Grover says. “But, he is extremely cognizant of his brain. Activity is excellent, and he is awake, and he is communicating with me and the nurses and doctors with his eyes.”
Grover says she has been staying with Carter in Utah, while her sister, Emily Gonzales, has been with their mother, as she is in critical condition in the ICU at EIRMC.
Gonzales says Peterson has suffered multiple strokes and is not “out of the woods yet.”
“Unfortunately, she did suffer multiple strokes, and those were on the left side of her brain,” Gonzales says. “She’s got a long road of recovery as well. She has two broken collar bones, a fractured sternum, broken ribs, fractured pelvis, a laceration to her spleen, and two pneumothoraxes, so she’s got holes in each lung.”
Despite all the challenges, the sisters say that the community’s support has been overwhelming, and they have been flooded with help from family and friends.
“I am just so humbled and honored to have such amazing and incredible people in my life,” Grover says. “Carter’s preschool came, they made him pictures and a big poster that everybody signed and drew on. And they brought a bunch of books and they brought Carter’s favorite stuffed lion.”
Gonzales, who owns The Neighborhood Barber in Idaho Falls, says she was recently grateful to learn that her coworkers had planned a fundraiser for Carter titled “Cuts for Carter.”
“My team has just been so incredibly amazing, and they want to help and support,” Gonzales says. “They started a cut-a-thon that they’re hosting at my shop on Oct. 11th, and all the proceeds they get from that day are going to be donated towards Carter’s recovery and to help my sister out with whatever she needs while she’s in Utah.”
Gonzales also started a GoFundMe to raise money for Carter’s medical treatment, recovery, and other expenses while the family is in Utah.
“Carter has really surprised so many doctors and has overcome every challenge that he has been faced with,” Gonzales says. “As he’s grown older, he just keeps proving doctors, and everybody wrong.”
Grover says she wants the community to know that her mother is strong and an inspiration to the family, which keeps them believing that she will fully recover.
“She’s an amazing woman. She raised three kids by herself, holding down a full-time job,” Grover says. “We are fortunate enough to have my mother so active in our lives, and my children are blessed because we have her.”
Despite the hardship their family is facing, Grover says a favorite saying of Carter’s continues to come to mind and provides her with comfort.
“Carter is so strong-minded, and he’s going to get through this, too,” Grover says. “One of Carter’s sayings that he always says to me every day is, ‘You’re my favorite heart.’”
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