Carmel parents create podcast to help others after their 2-year-old son almost dies from brain trauma
CARMEL, Ind. (WISH) – On May 5, 2014, Gavin Swearingen, 2, was at his home celebrating his birthday when he fell off a swing set that resulted in a traumatic brain injury.
His parents, Amanda and Brad, sought support and resources from others that had experienced the same trauma as their son. Unfortunately, they were unsuccessful at finding that help.
“Just tell us one story that this turned out better than expected. And for whatever reason, there wasn’t one,” stated Brad. “As we’re bartering with the universe we said that we would love to be that story someday, if this turns out okay. And it did.”
The month of May marks National Trauma Awareness Month. Nine years after Gavin’s incident, to mark the anniversary, they have a new podcast called “Threads Unseen” to help families going through trauma.
“We wanted to open up and break down some of those walls and maybe just normalize that it’s not all pretty,” explained Amanda. “It can get messy, but at the end of the day there’s always hope.”
With help from doctors and therapists, Gavin was able to celebrate his 11th birthday with his parents and two older sisters.
The Threads Unseen podcast is a limited series with five episodes that discusses Gavin’s accident with family members, doctors, the parent’s co-workers, and more.
