and the paramedics wanted to know which hospital to take Elijah to.
I went to the hospital and eventually was told my son had been shaken and would most likely not live. I have found this is the way most parents are thrown into the SBS abyss. Elijah struggled for four days, putting up a fight that looked promising to the outside world; however, in my heart, as his mother, I knew he was losing the fight and I was losing all strength to go on day after day and watching his little body only struggle more and more. On December 24, 1998, I told the doctors to take my son off life support and I knew he would not be able to take one single breath for himself.
I believe to this day that Jason loved Elijah, but what I did not and still don’t understand is how he could have gotten so angry with such a precious little boy and use so much force on him. Jason told investigators he could not stop Elijah from crying and that became overwhelming and frustrating to him so he shook him.
In 1998, and currently, the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome tracks cases of SBS victims, especially local ones. When my child’s case occurred, they came to offer support at the hearings and eventually asked if I would be interested in making a documentary that would be used to help educate parents and caregivers on the dangers of Shaken Baby Syndrome. We started filming the documentary in 1999, while the court hearings for Jason were still proceeding. I felt that the film was a way I could help the community and the world understand what happens with SBS victims, family members and so many more who are thrown into a world they knew nothing about and have no desire to learn about. The debut of Elijah’s Story was in September of 2000 at the National Conference on Shaken Baby Syndrome. It was at that time I found that this video was going to be a very effective tool to use in the fight for shaken baby victims and families everywhere.
Whether your child survived this awful abuse or passed away, we as parents and family members go down paths that we never want to wish upon anyone. If your child did not survive, you are in mourning of all the wonderful things you will miss through the years. You have to somehow stay strong for the many trial dates you have and come up with the money to pay all different kinds of expenses for the funeral cost and medical bills. If your child survived, you will need to learn many medical procedures and keep a record of all medical issues going on with your child. You will more than likely become his personal nurse and have your days filled with doctor appointments. You will also mourn for the child you have lost, but rejoice in the smallest accomplishments.
If you are a parent or other family member reading this, I am not going to be able to tell you how you should feel or what to expect around any corner you may turn, because each victim, whether they survive or not, is different, and each family member or friend who must go through this deals with something different each time.
In my particular case, Elijah’s father, Jason, ended up pleading guilty to a first-degree murder charge and was sentenced to twenty-five years to life in Utah State Prison. In his plea agreement he will be required to serve a minimum of twelve years. It is a sad thing to have to say, considering the other sentences that I have heard of, that I feel fortunate to have him in there for that length of time.
One of the things that has helped me get through this hell is that I had to come to grips regarding my anger towards Jason. I was not okay for many years, hating Jason the way I did. However, now coming up on the sixth anniversary of Elijah’s death and expecting my first child since then, I now can say I don’t hate Jason; I am very angry with Jason because in a matter of minutes he took so much away from me. But what is very important, which it took me at least two years after my son’s death to realize, was that I am okay with being angry. I do not let it rule my life nor do I ever want to forget it all or “just get over it.”
I invite you to explore our website, www.dontshake.org. You will find two other letters, one from a grandparent who is raising her granddaughter and one from a mother whose child was shaken by a daycare provider. I hope that each of these letters will help comfort you and give you some inspiration.
Nothing can change what has happened to you and it will take a long time to sort out your feelings about it all and find a way to move on in a positive way. My hope for any parent or family member experiencing this is that the anger will not rule your life. I have been able to find some positive ways to deal with my situation and anger by helping other parents and talking publicly about my personal experience.
—Emily Bodily
SBS CASE HOT SPOTS IN THE UNITED STATES
In November 2013, the Medill Justice Project published their study of U.S. counties that had the highest rates of shaken baby syndrome cases. These include: Douglas, Nebraska; Richmond, Georgia; Sarpy, Nebraska; Summit, Ohio and Weber, Utah. These counties were adjusted for population and found to have significantly higher rates than other U.S. counties. When looking at a statewide level, Nebraska ranked number one with the most SBS cases per 100,000 people, followed by Utah, Oklahoma, Wisconsin and Ohio.
Why do these particular counties in the U.S. have higher incidence rates than others? This is an unanswered question, but the report proposes that either some counties are better at identifying SBS cases and charging perpetrators or alternatively that there is a high number of caregivers who are violently shaking infants in those areas.
SBS AROUND THE WORLD
Over the past eleven years, the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome has hosted biannual conferences in countries including Australia, Japan, Canada, Scotland and France. Twenty years ago, SBS was recognized primarily in the U.S., Canada, Australia and the UK. Since then, recognition that shaking is used as a means of discipline has grown in terms of awareness in many more countries. There has been an increasing number of prevention initiatives around the world.
In 1999, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that 40 million children were subject to abuse and neglect. WHO does not separate SBS into its own entity; thus, countries are left to address or ignore shaking children as a problem. Recently, India has started to address SBS as a matter of concern. In a 2013 article, SH Subba and his associates rang the alarm bell of child abuse: “…The culture of corporal punishment is still viewed as normal and, when that crosses the line and becomes child battery, is not watched closely by any agency.”
Child abuse is a rare occurrence in Sweden due to the ban on corporal punishment since the 1970s. A national survey of parents from 2011 found that 3 percent of the parents beat their children during the previous year, nine out of ten parents expressed negativity about corporal punishment of children and no parent of a child below one year of age claims to have shaken his or her child. In recent years, there were several cases where infants have been severely injured after being shaken by their parents, but this has led to special efforts being made to inform parents of the serious consequences shaking can have on children.
In 2001, the Canadian government developed a joint statement on SBS and proposed a population-based surveillance to establish the incidence of SBS and address risk factors for shaking. They also recommended prevention strategies for the general community, as well as those who are most vulnerable (this includes child development information, parenting programs and anger management).
Japan’s incidence of SBS was recently highlighted in a journal article by K. Mori and his team. They found that Japan’s most recent SBS trends had similar characteristics to their Western counterparts in terms of age of incidence, perpetrator (an increasing number of fathers) and birth defects as a trigger for SBS.
As the concept of Shaken Baby Syndrome continues to spread across the globe, hopefully prevention strategies will increase as well. Such programs need to be supported on a government level in order for increased awareness to be instilled in the general populace.