Power of prayers

Murphy Miracles happen everyday, but it’s not everyday that one happens before your eyes.

On Sept. 6, 2024, 18-year-old local resident Colby Oxton was shot due to unknown circumstances. His journey has been a testament to the power of prayers and unyielding faith of his loved ones, as well as his own.

That fateful evening, he was checking trail cameras and later found by neighbors in the middle of the road, with his ATV still in fifth gear and his shotgun parallel to his body. He had been shot in the head and was unconscious when first responders arrived.

His parents, Cullen and Bonnie Oxton, were notified and rushed home. Cullen was able to watch as Colby was loaded into the Lifeforce helicopter at the Cherokee County Department of Social Services.

The family drove to Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga, Tenn., where they learned that the bullet had gone through Colby’s right arm, hit his left eye and lodged in the left parietal lobe of his brain. Emergency surgery was  performed to retrieve the bullet and sew up his left eye in order to save it. After a week, it was determined that his left eye needed to be removed due to the damage it received.

“We didn’t find this out until later, but they were giving him only a 15% chance of survival and they had already called the organ harvest team,” Cullen said. “It was like Colby said, ‘No, my work here is not done,’ and he has fought his way back.”

‘The kid is incredible’

Colby was in the hospital in Chattanooga from Sept. 6 through Nov. 13, when he was transferred to the Shepherd Inpatient Center in Atlanta. Colby stayed there until Dec. 20 when he was able to come home for two weeks during the holidays.

“He did so well those two weeks he was home for Christmas, they had to re-evaluate him because he was moving his right leg more,” Bonnie said.

In tandem, Cullen added, “It seems they keep having to go back and re-evaluate him because they put him on the scale and all of a sudden he’s off the charts again – the kid is incredible.”

Colby has beat the odds throughout his journey having overcome several obstacles that seemed impossible to the hospital staff.

“We had one speech therapist tell him all of the things he’d never do again, and by the next time we saw her, he had proved her exactly wrong on every little bit,” Bonnie said with a smile. “He was talking, writing and standing up. We were doing range-of-motion exercises and everything she wanted him to do, he did it.”

Colby’s brain is still developing at 18, which makes it faster for his brain to find new pathways to do the tasks that he is attempting to do again. He has had to learn how to read and write all over again and still has aphasia, which makes it difficult to convey the words in his head to his mouth.

Thumbs-up

Within the last couple of weeks, Colby has been able to give a thumbs-up on his right hand, something he and his parents have been working toward since Christmas.

“When he was in the hospital at Erlanger, he was able to move his right hand well, we’d rub his hands, feet and legs just to keep the nerves stimulated,” Cullen said. “Everything we could have hoped for has already happened, and it keeps happening.”

The Oxtons know everyday is a gift. They have been overwhelmed by love and support from the community.

Local churches – including Mount Liberty Baptist, which the Oxtons attend, and others – have been diligent about praying for Colby’s recovery.

“Even in a store, people will say, ‘Are you Colby?’ ” Bonnie said. “People know about him, even if they don’t know him personally, and have been praying for him. He is the poster boy for the power of prayer.”

God’s timeline

Since returning home for good in March, Colby has been able to get out into the community some and see old favorites, like hanging out at the Saw Shop where he worked and walking the green mile again at Murphy High to visit his teachers.

“Everything has been absolutely incredible,” Cullen said, choking up while recalling all of the ways the community has helped, like the group of men who built a ramp at their house for Colby to use.

“We put up a couple of billboards to say thank you that will be running the whole month of June. There are so many people out there, we knew we’d never be able to get in touch with all of them, so we thought of this idea to express our gratitude.”

While Colby was able to come home in March, he still goes to different therapy sessions several times per week and maintains a positive outlook on life. Soon he will be fitted with a prosthetic eye, and he’s continuing to look to the future.

“Since day one, we’ve kept telling ourselves it’s not our timeline, it’s God’s, and we’ll take it,” Bonnie said, happily. “We’ll keep faith that it will all happen.” 

Details: If you would like to help with recovery costs, visit colbyoxton.com, which is linked to a GoFundMe set up to help the family.