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Wallowa.com
Wednesday, July 31, 2019
B1
B1
WEDNESDAY
July 31, 2019
Brann family cites faith, family and community through trial
Steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
It’s a fact: Bad things happen
to good people. The Brann fam-
ily seems like they have the world
by the tail. Parents Darrell and
Christi are hard-working; Darrell
as a contractor who has lived in
the county since 2001, and owns
the OK Theatre, while Christi is a
Wallowa County native and stay-at-
home mom who home schools her
children.
The Brann children, Meredith,
Hartwell, Alden, Isabelle and Parker,
are beyond reproach; hard-working,
affable and musically inclined like
their parents. Dedicated Christians,
the family attends church regularly
and through the theater and music,
is a regular community presence in
a positive sense. Like Job, the fam-
ily had everything going for it.
Darrell Brann was at Safeway
picking up some candy for his son,
Parker, when he got the fi rst call
about the calamity. He was in the
checkout line and decided to return
the call later. When it immediately
rang again, he knew he needed
to answer. Alden, 11, while visit-
ing close family friends had been
severely burned over 5-7 per-
cent of his body after an accident
with burning gasoline (Alden was
not playing with gasoline). Christi
Brann received a call from Darrell
about the accident.
In the meantime the friends had
driven Alden to Wallowa Memo-
rial Hospital, calling the hospital to
inform them of the accident while
on the way. Alden said the hospi-
tal doors were still closed when
he arrived at emergency and they
waited about a minute before a
nurse opened them.
The friends responded to Alden’s
accident in textbook manner. The
boy’s polyester/cotton blend shirt
had literally gone up in fl ames, cre-
ating fl ash burns on his face. The
deeper burns came when the shirt
kept burning despite the “stop, drop
and roll” response of Alden and the
family friends.
“His shirt wouldn’t go out,” Dar-
rell Brann said. “When he was try-
ing to get the shirt off, the fi re was
blazing around his neck and the
hands, and it really burnt the hands
deeply.”
Son Parker went with Darrell to
the ER. The father said the scene
was traumatic, but Alden responded
with stoicism. Darrell said he
seemed concerned that the fam-
ily friends be told he was all right.
The 11-year-old also told his father:
“This is something you always
think will happen to someone else
until it happens to you.”
In the ER, it was thought Alden’s
lungs and possibly tongue were
scorched, and he was having trou-
ble swallowing, so the decision was
made to intubate him and send him
by air fl ight to Legacy Emmanuel
Hospital in Portland for treatment.
After a family conference, it was
decided Darrell would make the
fl ight with his son.
In the meantime, thunderstorms
were building up and limiting fl ight,
so a plan to get Alden to Pendleton
and get a plane there was under
works. While Alden was getting
prepped, the sky opened up and a
fl ight transferred Alden and Darrell
to Portland.
“When we landed, there was
such a team that came around him,”
Darrell said. “Every expert of every
area of the body is there to ana-
lyze.” He added that even the sur-
geon who would later perform skin
graft surgery was there to assess the
damage.
Alden woke slightly as the plane
was landing, and even with the pain
of the burns on his hands, managed
Courtesy Photo
One big happy family: The Branns (Back row L to R) Darrell Brann, Christi Brann, Hartwell Brann, Meredith Brann.
(Front row L to R) Isabelle Brann, Parker Brann, and Alden Brann.
to convey a message: “The fi rst
At about the same time, the
thing he did was sign the heart to
family met a man, Brian, who was
me,” Darrell said.
severely burned to the point of
The next morning, Alden held
amputated limbs 20 years before.
on to his good attitude. He still had
Alden noted the man and his fam-
a breathing tube and couldn’t vocal-
ily were still full of faith and hope.
ize his wants. On a piece of paper
It also helped the boy to keep his
with the alphabet printed on it. He
own burns in perspective. The two
asked how to say “thank you” in
families have started a friendship.
sign language, something he later
Christi said that not everything
did whenever nurses brought him
was a downer. She said Alden
anything. At about 10 a.m., the
played bingo while Alden men-
breathing tube was removed, which
tioned chocolate pudding and
proved somewhat miserable. While
remote control cars he played with.
Alden was transferred to the burn
Christi’s friend, Kate Moss,
center where he was introduced to
took over Facebook post duties on
his new caretakers, his mother and
Alden’s progress for Darrell while
grandmother arrived. This put the
Christi’s sister started a GoFundMe
boy in high spirits.
page, which helped immensely
“That’s when he started cracking YOU CAN’T KEEP A GOOD MAN as he hadn’t thought much about
jokes,” Darrell said. Alden immedi- DOWN — Despite suff ering some his contracting jobs. And the car
ately wanted to drive his cart to the severe burns in a fi re accident, you needed tires.
burn center, even though his hands can’t keep Alden Brann down. The
“It gave us room to be at ease
11 year-old is well on the road to through the process and the abil-
were heavily bandaged.
“They told us that fi ve to seven recovery, thanks to his unfl agging ity to make trips back and forth
percent of his body was burned,” optimism and the support of his to Portland,” Darrell said. “It was
Christi said. “It was mostly sec- family and community.
amazing.”
ond degree, but some third degree
Even more amazing was the out-
burns.” The parents were told the read to, talked to or sang to Alden, pouring from the community and
daily bandage changes and burn which helped keep his spirits up.
even around the country, of sympa-
examinations would dictate the
Initial bandage changes were thy, encouragement and even peo-
course of treatment.
described as “pretty traumatic,” and ple who said they were inspired by
Children Meredith and Hart- once they became less so, the deci- Alden’s story and his courage.
well came by that week. Meredith sion was made to do skin graft sur-
The boy and his family remained
got the call about the accident while gery, which everyone had to gear in the hospital for two weeks and
driving into town. Parker, because themselves up for. Asked how he two days. Alden wanted desper-
of his age, could not
ately to go to the cen-
visit for some time. This
tennial celebration, but
proved a boon for the
‘WE DO STRIVE TO FOLLOW THE EXAMPLE the surgeon said on Fri-
parents.
day, July 12, that the fol-
OF CHRIST IN LOVING ONE ANOTHER AND lowing week was more
“When Meredith and
Hartwell came, it gave
TO LOVE OUR NEIGHBOR AS OURSELVES. likely.
Christi and I a chance to
During the fi nal
THIS EVENT BROUGHT THAT CLEARLY
decompress together,”
week, Darrell made
Darrell said. “It was
three trips back to
INTO FOCUS AND INTO THE CENTER OF
huge just to be able to
Enterprise. At one
step out of the room.”
OUR LIFE, SO IN THAT WAY, WE’RE REALLY point, Stangel Indus-
After about a week,
tries and Machine Shop
GRATEFUL FOR THE WHOLE THING.’
Darrell had to temporar-
owner Dick Stangel had
ily return to Enterprise
called and offered to
Darrell Brann
to help prepare the The-
fl y Alden home for the
atre for its 100th anni-
celebration.
versary celebration on
“That’s so wonder-
July 12-13.
prepared himself, Alden laughed ful, but it looks like a no,” Darrell
“I was sure the event would hap- and said, “Just get ready. I don’t told Stangel because of the progno-
pen, but I thought we may not cover really know.”
sis. Stangel replied to let him know
expenses, because I was still trying
Alden, who is 11 going on 40, if things changed. They did.
to get the last of the sponsorships, took some time to refl ect on the
On the morning of Saturday,
and a lot of the event is the last cou- event, according to his dad.
July 13, Darrell had taken a break
ple of weeks of promotion to get
“He said he didn’t know how from the day’s preparations to run
people there.”
he’d have gotten through without home and take care of an online
Darrell said what was important his faith and family,” Darrell said. ticket problem when Christi called
became very clear: Being there for “He didn’t know how you could and said Alden was getting dis-
Alden and the rest of the family. He move forward without hope. It’s charged immediately.
did what he could while Alden was pretty amazing that an 11-year-old
“I couldn’t believe it,” Darrell
asleep, but the rest of the time he could come up with those lines in said with wonder still in his voice.
and the other family members fed, the middle of it.”
“I really couldn’t believe it.”
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A neighbor offered to make a
welcome back banner and had it
ready in time for Alden’s return,
where he was greeted like a rock
star that very afternoon. Virtually
everyone at the celebration took
pictures and offered congratulations
on his return.
Asked if there was anything else
the community could do to help,
Brann shook his head.
“At this point we just want to
thank the community,” Darrell said.
“We’re trying to catch back up on
thank yous because there’s so many
now.” He added thanks may come
in the form of a free family concert
for the community. He added that
the community also started a meal
train that would keep then in meals
for several weeks.
The family has survived the inci-
dent intact. While some families
may have been torn apart by the
accident, the Branns stood fi rm.
“The family this happened with
is like family to us,” Darrell said.
“You run risks when you let your
kids be close to other people and
be out of your sight. We live next
to a river and someone could have
fallen in the river and we would
have felt the burden of guilt.”
Brann added that we are all in a
community with everyone putting
things at risk at some level and that
we all try to look out for each other.
The fact that the event was an acci-
dent and not intentional also miti-
gates feelings.
“It helped pull us together,”
Christi said.
Darrell also said the accident
helped him to look back and see
how hard he pushed to get the cen-
tennial celebration done and maybe
he wasn’t putting in time where he
should.
The children were asked how
they felt about the incident at the
time. Meredith, 17, said she ini-
tially got a text to call quick because
something had happened.
“I thought someone had died,
so I was mostly grateful the whole
time,” she said. Sister Isabelle said
she was shocked and didn’t believe
it when she heard the news.
“When we got to the hospital I
was still too shocked to think any-
thing,” she said. “Later on I got
used to it.” She also served as an
information conduit, telling him the
latest news and recording Alden’s
highlights for social media.
Both parents said the commu-
nity reaction to the accident was
overwhelming.
“The amount of help from the
community, even from those we
don’t know well, sent encouraging
notes, while others offered money
to help ease the burden,” he said.
“The reality is those things have
helped. I know people without a lot
of means are giving, and it all adds
up. It’s humbling for certain. The
power of a small town is so huge.”
The Branns advised that any
family undergoing a similar event
would do well to depend on each
other. Darrell said he was aware that
sometimes the Branns are looked at
as a kind of “super family,” which
he attributed to the family’s strong
convictions and faith in God.
“We know it’s God’s hand and
not anything of our own,” Brann
said. “We do strive to follow the
example of Christ in loving one
another and to love our neighbor as
ourselves. This event brought that
clearly into focus and into the cen-
ter of our life, so in that way, we’re
really grateful for the whole thing.”
Asked what he’d advise fami-
lies going through a similar situa-
tion, Brann said, “Try to fi nd ways
to communicate through it and see
what’s important in life. We’re
guaranteed nothing. Every day we
have with Alden is a blessing.”
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