BY MARY BRODERICK

	art by James Faber

On August 8, 2003, my husband, Tom, was on the back porch of our home with Ryan, our 4 month-old-son, and Briana, our 18-month-old daughter. Tom was holding Ryan when he threw the diaper bag into the house and stepped backwards—on to Briana’s foot. Trying not to hurt Briana, Tom lost his balance and fell with Ryan over the railing into the grass below.

I called 911 immediately and Ryan was taken by ambulance to the hospital. After a CT scan, Ryan was diagnosed with an “acute subdural hematoma,” which is bleeding between the brain and the skull. Ryan spent the night in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.

After a second CT scan, Ryan was diagnosed with a “chronic subdural hematoma,” which means the doctors believed that he’d had bleeding in his brain before. Because of this diagnosis, we were accused of child abuse, specifically Shaken Baby Syndrome. (The assumption was that he’d had bleeding in the brain because we shook him.) The hospital contacted the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS).>>>(more)