A small victim goes home

July 26, 1995

DALLAS, Texas (CNN) -- Holding a balloon and waving good-bye to doctors with his functioning arm, three-year-old Brandon Denny was wheeled out of a Dallas rehabilitation center Wednesday.

Brandon and his two-year-old sister, Rebecca, were two of six children in the federal building's day care center to survive the April 19th Oklahoma City explosion. Fifteen children were killed in the center, and another four died in other parts of the building. "They're absolute miracles. After looking at that building, they shouldn't be here," said father Jim Denny, who manages a shop that makes oil well drilling tools.

Brandon was hurt so badly his parents barely recognized him. His head was bandaged, and Denny could only see Brandon's eyes and nose. They searched among his bruises and found Brandon's red birthmark on his left thigh.

For the next 30 days, Denny and his wife, Claudia, didn't know whether Brandon would survive. Debris from the blast pummeled a hole in the upper left side of Brandon's forehead. Doctors operated four times on his brain, pocked with debris from the bombing. Today, the right side of his body can barely function and Brandon cannot walk or talk on his own.

Before the bombing, Brandon was a chatty 3-year-old, who talked in sentences, could recite his ABCs and count to 15. Now, Brandon can only utter noises, a giggle, a cry, and "ugh," "oooh" or "oh."

"After this happened, I forgot what Brandon was like before. I forgot what he sounded like when he talked," Denny said.

But his parents are thankful, and say they feel like the luckiest people on Earth. "If I can have a little boy to hug and kiss, I'm going to be happy, even if he can't kiss back," said Denny.

Brandon's sister, Rebecca, was also hospitalized for 10 days as surgeons removed glass and plastic pieces from the left side of her face, arms and leg. More than 100 stitches left little blue scars on her face.

At a party for a little girl at the rehabilitation center two weeks ago, Brandon seemed to mouth the words to "Happy Birthday," Denny said. The little boy can lift his right leg eight inches and his right arm about halfway, but he can't do much with his right hand. With a leg brace and a little push and support from his dad, Brandon can take a step.

But doctors don't know whether he'll ever be able to walk on his own or improve his speech. "Right now he's at 50 to 60 percent," said Dr. Frank McDonald, his primary physician in Dallas. "I don't think he'll ever make 100 percent. But he's going to grow and develop."

Ever since Brandon was transferred two months ago from an Oklahoma City hospital to Baylor Hospital's Pediatric Center for Restorative Care, Denny has been keeping vigil over his son. He moved into a Dallas hotel to be close by. And his wife, who worked at the Internal Revenue Service four blocks from the federal building, has been flying down most weekends with Rebecca.

At a news conference at the rehabilitation center Wednesday, Brandon squirmed in his wheelchair next to his sister and parents, played with a red toy phone and a little bottle of bubbles around his neck. With a cockeyed smile and dimpled cheeks, the blue-eyed boy giggled at photographers who made faces at him.

"How old are you?" a reporter asked. Brandon held up three fingers. "He understands everything that's going on around him, he just can't verbalize," Denny said.

The Dennys, who say the ordeal has brought them even closer as a family, are planning a trip to Disneyland next month and to the White House in September. "If he doesn't get better we'll be perfectly happy, but he will get better," Denny said. "Where there's life there's hope."

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A small victim goes home

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