Family reflects on month since tragic canal accident

Posted at: 09/12/2012 11:07 PM | Updated at: 09/12/2012 11:28 PM

Nearly a month ago, two young children were rescued after their stroller accidentally fell into the Erie Canal.

Sam and Selah Clanton were rushed to Golisano Children's Hospital. While Sam has since been release, Selah is still in the hospital.

Doctors have told Jon and Yvonne Clanton that the progress their daughter has made to this point is probably all they can expect.

When Selah and Sam, both 8, fell into the canal last month, her parents say Selah was underwater for 30 minutes.

"She suffered more and her heartbeat prevented more, therefore the brain damage occurred to a greater degree," Jon Clanton says.

Sam is fine. His parents say he's back to the little boy he was before the stroller he and Selah were riding in accidentally fell into the canal.

"There's times I lean over the bed when I'm alone with Selah in that hospital room and I say honey, I'm sorry... Daddy loves you Selah," Jon says. "My wife and I are on the same page when it comes to our faith in Jesus Christ. We know one day healing will come-- full healing."

Now that Selah is breathing on her own, the family is making plans to return to Florida sometime in the next month or so. They'll be transferring her to a hospital there.

"She'll be there for awhile then we'll have to figure out how we're going to rearrange our home. We have a little house. She has to have her own room where she can have nursing care.There will be some nursing care involved," Yvonne says.

This has been a tough ordeal for the family, and they have mixed emotions about leaving Rochester. They say the outpouring of love has been tremendous. The family is preparing for the long road ahead, and the promise they made when they adopted Selah and their other daughter Sarah.

"If I didn't believe in eternity, if I didn't believe life is but a vapor, yeah I would definitely want to throw in the towel and run as far as I could because it's hard," says Yvonne. "Our promise to the judge in the Ukraine was that we would love these little children and care for them their whole life and we will not break our promise or change our promise."

The Clantons recounted many of the ways the Rochester community has supported them, from letters and cards to a shopping spree for the whole family at Macy's because they had only brought shorts and summer clothes on their trip to Rochester. One night while having dinner at a local restaurant another family paid for their dinner. That's just some of the kindness the family shared with News10NBC.

Their only request is for your continued prayers for Selah. 

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