Boy undergoes limb-lengthening surgery after his father tried to kill him in car crash

By Ashley Portillo

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    CENTENNIAL, Colorado (KCNC) — A Colorado boy is now recovering from his seventh surgery. Over eight years ago, his father tried to kill both of them by crashing a car in Centennial.

Isaiah Weitzel was just two years old at the time, but he’s still dealing with the impacts of that crash. While he’s recovering from his surgery, he is not able to walk for several months and is not able to do all the things 11-year-olds usually do. Throughout it all, he remains strong and resilient, all while keeping busy.

Isaiah recently underwent limb lengthening surgery on his leg, where there is about a seven-centimeter difference from the other leg. It’s an extremely painful process of lengthening his femur, hoping his legs and hips will be closer in alignment.

“Every day, we put the machine on, this little machine, and we press a button, and it lengthens almost about a millimeter every few hours,” said Isaiah, who currently wears a shoe lift to help balance out his hips to help balance out the length of his legs.

It’s the seventh surgery he’s needed since his crash in August 2016. Isaiah was in the backseat not buckled in, when his father drove about 75 mph and crashed the car they were in into several parked vehicles.

Isaiah broke his leg, needed 20 stitches in his head, and is still fighting to recover.

“I’ve been really impressed with how well he’s recovering, but it was really hard, and it was scary,” said Nancy Lopez, Isaiah’s mom.

Lopez said the most recent surgery was the hardest to see her son go through.

“Just watching him every day, it’s almost like he’s not in pain because of his demeanor, but I know he’s in pain. He just doesn’t act like it, he doesn’t show it,” said Lopez.

Isaiah is now undergoing physical therapy and seeing the doctor several times a week. Lopez added, he makes it all look easy.

“I’m just super impressed with his resilience,” said Lopez. “It’s inspiring. It’s admirable.”

However, Isaiah will likely need surgeries for the rest of his life.

“He has a lot more surgeries coming. We still have a long, long way to go though, and this is not going to be his last limb lengthening,” said Lopez. “But this is one step closer to that goal we’re trying to pursue.”

“I’m happy that it’s over with, and I’m over the scary part,” said Isaiah. “It’s very hard, but with my mom next to me, she helps a lot. It’s been nice having her supporting me. Even when going through the worst thing, she always helps me and lifts me up.”

Isaiah will be fully recovered in up to four months. For now, he’s able to get around in his wheelchair and enjoys the things he loves to do, like playing pool with his mom, playing the violin, building Legos and coloring.

“You don’t realize how much you got until it’s all gone,” said Isaiah. “I’m looking forward to walking, finally being able to go places, and hopefully soon I’ll be able to go up the stairs.”

To meet all the high medical costs for Isaiah’s surgery, the family has also created an online campaign to raise money.

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