Georgetown boy in NYC ICU after birthday trip turned into medical emergency
GEORGETOWN, Texas - 10-year-old Riker Stippick was thrilled to be experiencing his first slice of NYC pizza and seeing the Broadway musical, "Hamilton."
"Bless his sweet little heart," said David Stippick, Riker’s dad. "He wanted to go to the Weehawken dueling ground where Aaron Burr and Hamilton had their duel."
The Stippick family was in New York City celebrating Riker turning double digits.
"Your kid is happy and healthy and 10, you kind of assume they're going to be happy and healthy and 10," said Stippick.
10-year-old Riker Stippick. Photo courtesy: David Stippick
They were headed to the World Trade Center Memorial on Monday when Riker’s health changed.
"There's a building over there that we walked through and as soon as we walked through that building he said, 'Oh, I have a really bad headache. This is the worst headache I've ever had,’" said Stippick.
His dad said Riker vomited and laid down near a bench.
"It was like a shriek of pain," said Stippick.
They took him to the hospital, where doctors put him in a medically induced coma.
"It's as awful as it sounds, you know what I mean?" said Stippick.
Doctors told them they thought Riker may have had an abnormal connection between his arteries and veins, also called an arteriovenous malformation, with an aneurysm inside it that burst.
They had to drill a hole into his skull to drain blood and fluid and remove clotting. Now, they're focused on getting his electrolytes back up.
"We don't know the genuine hope of if and when he does come out of this, what kind of therapies or treatments are going to be needed down the line," said Stippick.
David, a hospice chaplain, and his wife, who is the assistant principal at Herrington Elementary in Round Rock, were met immediately with support back home.
"That has been incredible and overwhelming," said Stippick.
10-year-old Riker Stippick. Photo courtesy: David Stippick
Their church's lead pastor at Peace of Christ Church opened a GoFundMe account that reached more than $68,000 in just a few days.
"I don't have the words to say thank you to everybody outside of the words thank you," said Stippick.
Doctors want to do an MRI on Riker before they give his family an official diagnosis, but Riker has to become stable enough to get off some of his tubes and machines first.
Now the Stippicks are praying Riker will wake up and that this nightmare will end.
"We never expected it to be our reality, but it is," said Stippick.
The family also said that Herrington Elementary will be wearing red on Friday to show their support.
Liberty Hill Elementary, Riker’s previous school, did the same on Thursday.