CELEBRATING LIFE … On October 28, 2022, just three short months after these people helped to save the life of this young boy, Alek Bell, he got to meet them. From left to right, in front of EMT vehicle that was used in his rescue, are Paramedics Joe Walker and Brock Zuver, Alek’s father John Bell, 9-year-old Alek, Alek’s 6-year-old brother Coehen, Mom (Heidi Bell) holding 2-year-old brother Sylas, EMT -B Samantha Brink, Paramedic Caitlin Helms and Deputy Sheriff Tyler Maynard. Joe was the Lead EMT that day in July. This picture was taken at the EMS barn just north of Bryan. (PHOTO PROVIDED)
By: Rebecca Miller
Almost everyone who has children would agree that what child psychologist James Dobson titled his book, Parenting is Not for Cowards, is true.
The fear that something frightening or traumatic might happen to your child is part of being a parent and John and Heidi Bell were slammed by that experience in July of this year.
This is their story in hopes that it will encourage other parents to make it through their trials and to “keep praying and keep trusting.”
The Bells live just outside of Williams Center, Ohio with their three sons, Alek (9), Coehen (6) and Sylas (2).
On July 21, 2022, their oldest son, Alek, was not feeling well and as he had struggled with stomach issues in the past, Heidi had called her mother-in-law, Jeannie Bell, to come be with the younger two so that she could take Alek to the emergency room in Bryan.
Heidi had also called her husband to come home from his job at Titan Tire to help her, because Alek was so weak and she could not carry him to the car.
Not long after Jeannie (“Meme”) arrived, Alek had a seizure, which he had never had before.
His grandmother began compressions as she thought he wasn’t breathing, while Heidi called 911 and gathered the other two children out of the room.
Sheriff’s Deputy Tyler Maynard arrived first and took over the compressions until the Emergency Medical Squad arrived.
Alek’s dad, John arrived right around the same time. It was all happening so fast and yet as Heidi shared the account of this experience in an interview, it showed on her face that it must have felt like forever at the time.
The paramedics put Alek in the EMS vehicle and closed the door. Meme stayed with the other boys, Dad paced back and forth and in and out of the house, and Mom sat in the driveway next to the emergency vehicle, crying and praying…and waiting.
“They were probably in the vehicle with Alek for about twenty minutes,” Heidi shared, “when Deputy Maynard stepped out and said, ‘let’s go.’ We got in his car and followed the ambulance to Bryan Hospital.”
As they were being taken to the emergency room, Heidi was quickly sending a message to family members to pray for Alek.
At the ER, they were allowed to be with their son and during that time he had multiple cardiac arrests, which means the heart basically stops.
The staff in the ER continued doing compressions and a number of other medical procedures, but his parents never left his side, able to “touch him, hold him and talk to him.”
When asked where they wanted Alek to be flown to, they chose ProMedica Children’s Hospital in Toledo and the helicopter lifted off with John riding along with their son.
Heidi had called her parents, Frank and Cindy Miller of Pioneer, and her dad arrived soon after LifeFlight left, to take Heidi to Toledo.
On the way to this hospital, Heidi was busy sending messages “to as many people as I could think of, to pray!”
Alek was taken immediately to ICU where “Dr. Dave” was in charge. John met Heidi and her dad in the waiting room where they stayed until Alek had been stabilized.
“We were allowed to go back to be with him after a while. He was stable, and intubated and hooked up to a brain monitor (EEG) for seizure activity,” Heidi shared.
They are grateful that he never did have any other seizures. The medical staff also had him sedated, so he was unaware of them… but they were very aware of him and all that was going on around them.
Carrie, Heidi’s younger sister, arrived along with her brother, Hans, her mother and her sister in law, Nicolle.. John, Heidi and Carrie stayed overnight in his room. That was a Thursday. Alek had not felt well since Monday.
Meme stayed with the little ones, while John, Heidi and Carrie remained at the hospital over the next few days.
On Sunday the doctors were concerned because he was retaining fluid and they were afraid he would need dialysis. ProMedica Children’s Hospital does not do pediatric dialysis, so they were trying to locate a bed elsewhere for Alek.
“They ended up finding one at University of Michigan Mott’s Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor,” Heidi said. He was lifeflighted there, still sedated and intubated.
At this point, Alek’s dad, John went home to pack for them, while Heidi and her sister, Carrie drove from Toledo to Ann Arbor.
Once there, more medical procedures were done including a CRRT (Continual Renal Replacement Therapy – a continual dialysis to keep his kidneys working and get rid of fluids).
Over the coming days, the staff did intermittent dialysis two or three times, and then his kidney function returned.
Another test showed E. coli in his stool, so they began to think that the E. coli had started everything.
They could not give any other explanation or diagnosis. Alek was in ICU until August 16, slightly shy of a month since this frightening ordeal began for this family.
Alek was starting to be more awake during that time and began to see occupational and physical therapists.
He had delirium pretty consistently, until he was moved from ICU to the pediatric general floor.
John went home periodically and they were thankful that his mom, the boys’ Meme, stayed for two weeks.
John’s dad and step mom Pat and Christina Bell also helped a lot with the boys’ care. John felt like he wanted to be home with the boys, and as they both had filled out FMLA paperwork on their jobs, Titan Tire gave John a leave of absence and NWOESC (NorthWest Ohio Educational Service Center) with whom Heidi works primarily at Tinora, was also very understanding and supportive.
Heidi stayed with Alek and had lots of family support and visits. New Hope Community Church, where the Bells attend, provided support through gift cards and a bible for Alek while they were in Michigan.
“Misty (Hageman) and Cammie (Short) provided me with a lot of personal support,” Heidi said, adding, “We had a lot of people reaching out with gift cards and checks and asking how they could help.”
On August 26, they finally went home…but only for a day. On the twenty seventh Alek began to vomit and Heidi drove him back to the ER at ProMedica Children’s in Toledo.
They were immediately LifeFlighted back to Mott’s in case he needed dialysis again.
Earlier on, he was tested for COVID, and also for the antibodies, which he did have because the family had all had COVID in January.
They tested him for MIS-C, which they are finding in children who have had covid, and treated him for it, but didn’t have any response to that, so they ruled that out as well.
For this stay at Mott’s, they stayed the weekend, till August 30, and went home again.
Two days later, as they walked into the doctor’s office in Defiance for an appointment on Sept. 1, he vomited again.
They went ahead and had the visit, with the doctor reaching out to a Pediatric GI doctor in Toledo.
She was able to get them in to see this specialist that very day. This is when things started to change for the better.
“All this time, the assumption was that it was GI related,” Heidi shared. This new GI doctor admitted Alek to ProMedica Pediatric again, but not in the Intensive Care Unit this time.
The doctor was “not happy with everything, or the answers they had gotten till then, so he looked back through everything and asked us to consult with endocrinology and GI to completely rule out some possibilities.” Thus, a correct diagnosis was made!
The endocrinologist identified that he is “adrenal insufficient” and the GI team and everyone else involved agreed that this is the cause.
Alek’s body doesn’t produce cortisol, so that had caused it all.
He was immediately put on daily doses of hydro cortisol, which is a steroid, and has been better ever since.
That diagnosis was made and treatment began on September 4, 2022. They also did additional testing and found out he also has Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), which is a genetic disorder that affects mainly males.
If not caught early enough, it can put a child into a vegetative state. This family is so grateful they caught it early enough for Alek! Coehen and Sylas missed mom during all this time she was gone, and are happy to have her and their brother home again.
They had facetimed with Alek almost every day, once he was well enough, and one time, Coehen actually got to spend the night in the hospital with Alek and mom.
Now Alek is seeing a specialist at the University of Minnesota. It may be a long way away, but they did go to meet personally a few weeks ago when Heidi and Carrie drove out with Alek.
A Magnetic Resonance Imaging, or MRI, was done and they were told that he will need to have an MRI every six months, till puberty, to keep a close watch on his brain.
ALD can affect different individuals differently, with one possibility being problems with the adrenal glands and another being brain issues.
As he gets the MRIs over the next few years, if it shows any problems they will have to look into possible treatments, one option being a bone marrow transplant.
For now, they have all taken a deep breath and moved back into “normal” life, with Alek happily back in his third-grade class and mom and dad back at work.
They cannot say enough good about how their jobs, Alek’s school, their church and family and friends all supported them. Heidi’s superintendent at Tinora, Nicole Wells, checked in almost every day to find out how they were. Tinora and Fairview schools combined to do multiple fundraisers for the family.
“Tammy and Misty sent messages and songs to lift me up and prayers to pray over Alek. My friend Jenna Wilhelm checked in every day!
And my sister Carrie,” she paused and with tears filling her eyes, said, “I would have been lost without her. She has been a rock.”
A couple songs that really helped her were “God of Miracles” by Chris McLarney and “In Jesus Name” by Katy Nichole.
For anyone interested, there was a Caring Bridge page for Alek so everyone could get updates without Heidi needing to send multiple messages all the time. Just knowing she had people praying was so comforting.
Now they have a sense of peace that came with the diagnosis, but the uncertainty of how the ALD will affect Alek keeps them aware that it is not all over.
The MRI in Minnesota was good, but they are going back in three months for another.
The doctor is also trying to determine what caused the initial medical issues. Alek takes a regular dose of the hydro cortisone three times each day, but if he gets sick with a fever or anything like that, they give him “a stress dosing of the hydro cortisone.”
His mother explained, “It is putting into his body what his body is not producing, the dose is not too much, just what is needed based on his weight and height…and he will need to take steroids the rest of his life.”
Looking back on this experience, Heidi said, “Alek does ask questions, but seems to have a very good positive attitude.
He just took it all in stride and continues to do that. As many times as he has had blood draws and other procedures, He just takes it and he smiles.”
Recently they received a phone call from Caitlyn Helms, Paramedic/Training Coordinator for Williams County EMS.
She wanted to know if Alek would like to participate in giving out the Handtevy Challenge Coins that were being given to all who had assisted in his rescue on July 21, 2022.
He said he would like that and on October 28th, just three months after he almost died, this amazing little boy was all smiles as he met the people who helped him.
When asked if she has any advice for moms who might find themselves in petrifying situations such as what happened to them, Heidi paused and then quietly said, “Just keep praying, and trust that He is with you.”
“And don’t be afraid to ask God, and people, for what you need. Accept help even when you don’t want to.”
Rebecca can be reached at rebecca@thevillagereporter.com
