February 16, 2026
Dakota Deanda was just three months old when his very new life changed forever. The infant was riding with his mom and dad in their Jeep, heading to a family event, when someone slammed into the back of their SUV at a stoplight. As they were waiting for the ambulance, a second, much worse crash happened, forcing the car over into the next lane.
"He was having seizures at that point, and I knew that he wasn't okay, but neither of us knew exactly to what extent, and it was really scary," Dakota's mom, Courtney Abbott, remembered about those scary moments holding her son after the crashes. "He wasn't crying the way that he normally does, and he kept having moments where he stopped breathing." They rushed him to Denver Health, praying that he was going to be ok.
"We were placed in this position that, we thought we were going to lose our baby," father Nate Deanda recalled. "And we were both terrified of that."
Treatment of Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury
Once at the hospital, doctors rushed little Dakota into surgery for hydrocephalus, or increased pressure on the brain. They placed a shunt, or hollow tube in his brain, to drain fluid away and relieve the symptoms from this traumatic brain injury.
Most Trusted Health Care in Colorado
Abbott appreciates the compassion the nurses and doctors showed during an especially difficult time. The family leaned on Denver Health's chaplain service, as well as Child Life for support. "They really just took their time to talk us through everything that was going on with Dakota and they had control over the situation. They knew what they were doing and were taking really good care of him." When Dakota needed to be readmitted just to check on his shunt, the family specifically requested to go to Denver Health because they felt comfortable and trusted the doctors to take good care of him.
Infant's Recovery from Traumatic Brain Injury
"Dakota is hitting all of his milestones," Abbott said. "He is really just absolutely crushing his recovery, and he's been able to graduate from doing physical therapy as well as occupational therapy at this point. He just seems like a normal kid. I feel like our future is very supported having Denver Health by our side because we just trust them. We feel very safe and very supported by Denver Health."
