Community Corner

Community Rallies Around Hyattsville Family After Tragedy Strikes

After Dustin Franco suffered a brain injury, neighbors, friends and family came together in a show of support.

When Hyattsville resident Laura Reams came home on March 14 to find that her husband, Dustin Franco, had fallen down the basement stairs, she initially thought he just needed staples for the cut on his head.

A trip to the emergency room and at a CT scan later, they found out that Franco, also 36, had suffered a brain injury that would require cranial surgery and months or years of recovery.

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The Accident

Though they are not certain exactly what happened—Franco does not remember the incident—Reams said they think he slipped going down the basement stairs. The railing was loose, so he may have reached for that, but ultimately they think he fell and hit his head on the concrete floor.

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“He hit his head. He was walking and talking when I found him,” Reams, 36, said.

However, Franco needed a decompressive craniectomy, a surgery that involves removing a portion of the skull so that the brain has room to swell. A piece of his skull was put into his stomach, where it will stay until he has a second surgery to put it back in place several months from now.

Following the surgery, Franco was in a coma for “nine very long days,” Reams said, and he remained in recovery at the hospital for more than 40 days.

Outpouring of Community Support

The next several weeks would be overwhelming for Reams, who in addition to visiting Franco was also caring for the couple's two small children and working when she could as the town clerk for the City of Hyattsville.

Having family nearby has been a “huge, huge blessing,” Reams said.

Franco is a lifelong Hyattsville resident and attended Dematha High School. His parents and brother still live in Hyattsville and immediately began pitching in to help care for Franco and Reams’ children, nearly 4-year-old Maddie and one-year-old Alexander. Reams’ parents and sister, who live in Silver Spring, have also been providing support and assistance.

The town of Hyattville and the community rallied to support the Franco-Reams family. The Hyattsville Nurturing Moms listserv did a family meal call, and friends and neighbors signed up to bring dinner over for weeks, for which Reams was grateful.

“Even trying to think about cooking a meal at that point was really difficult,” Reams said of the first weeks of Franco’s hospitalization.  

University Church Nursery School in College Park, where Maddie is in the 3s class, has also helped the family.

“UCNS has been amazing. They reached out to Maddie’s class and set up playdates for her, trying to keep her day-to-day normal when it was so clearly not normal,” Reams said.

The school has decided to donate the proceeds of its annual fundraiser to Reams and her family for medical bills and day-to-day expenses while Franco is out of work.

The town of Hyattsville and Mayor Marc Tartaro have also been incredibly supportive, Reams said, encouraging her to take as much time off as she needs. The Hyattsville Community Garden, where Reams has been a member for three years, has also lent a hand, she said.

“Dustin always told me Hyattsville was amazing, and now I really get it,” she said.

Road to Recovery

Reams said doctors are "really, really" pleased with Franco’s recovery, but when he initially woke from his coma, he was dealing with some serious long-term memory loss.

“He did not remember our son," Reams said. "he thought it was 2012."

But after about a week, she said, it was as though a switch flipped and he began to recover rapidly.

Reams said it has been amazing watching Franco’s recovery. As of now, he seems to be suffering from no physical deficits, but he continues to experience short-term memory loss and some speach problems.

Franco is now home and participating in outpatient speech therapy, occupational therapy, and physical rehabilitation several times a week.

It will likely be several months before Franco, who managed a tropical fish store and ran his own fish tank and pond service, can return to work—a fact that has been frustrating to the normally very active man. 

“Right now he has to wear a helmet all the time to protect his skull, so the risk of him driving or going back to work is still too great at this time,” Reams said.

Franco also requires around-the-clock care and rides to his therapy sessions several times a week. His parents and brother, who live about four blocks away, have been assisting with his care and transportation.

The healing time for brain injuries can be very long, possibly years, but Reams and Franco’s doctors remain optimistic.

“I hope we look back and remember not how scary this was but how kind people were. I hope that’s our takeaway. I hope that’s what stays with us,” Reams said.


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