Boy's Family Hoping for Minor Miracle

The picture makes you scream "Watch Out!" If only the three unsuspecting people could hear you.

It's of a mom, a dad and a little boy at a baseball game. He's wrapped in his mother's arms and looking like the happiest 4-year-old you'll ever see.

A minute later, he was dying. A foul ball screamed into the stands and fractured his skull. Now there's no telling whether he'll ever be that same smiling kid.

"We just pray and focus on helping him heal," said Nicole Holko. "Things happen for a reason. We may never know what it is."

She is Luke Holko's mother, and she's dealing with this a lot better than most people would. I know I would be screaming Why?

Out of millions of harmless foul balls hit every year, why was my child hit by a torpedo? Why wasn't there more protection? Why couldn't it have been me?

Luke was hit Sept. 2 at a minor league game in Niles, Ohio. We may never know why it happened, but what's happened since should restore your faith in people. It might even restore your faith in faith.

Nicole says that's what kept her going the past three weeks. That and the little signs of improvement she sees as she stares at her son on his hospital bed.



He was in a medically-induced coma until a few days ago. Now his doctor says Luke is out of the "life-threatening" phase, and the unpredictable waiting-hoping-and-praying game has begun.

They're all waiting and hoping and praying Luke will again be Luke.

"He's very playful and smart," Nicole said. "He's always saying, 'I love you,' and giving hugs and kisses. Sometimes it doesn't seem like you're talking to a four-year-old. He's just the best little boy to have in life."

He's been the ultimate blessing to Nicole and Chad Holko. They'd had trouble conceiving a child and she had a miscarriage. The trip to the Class A Mahoning Valley Scrappers game that night was a nice getaway.

Chad's mother had given them tickets, and they were thrilled to get to Eastwood Field and see they were sitting on the front row just behind first base.

They settled into their seats and looked toward home plate, only to squint into the setting sun.

"We have to keep an eye out for foul balls," Chad said.

A few innings later, the sun was down and so was their guard. A friend took some pictures of their night out. Luke mugged it up for the camera then told his mom he was getting sleepy and wanted to go home.

A minute later, Ben Carlson stepped to the plate. He's a 6-foot-3, 230-pound first baseman, and all that size and strength laid into a pitch.

Nicole never saw the ball. Chad barely did, then he felt his son go limp in his lap.

"His eyes were rolling around and he started taking deep breaths," Nicole said.

Chad cradled him and ran to the concourse yelling for help. An ambulance was on site and whisked them all to the hospital. Nicole is a medical assistant at St. Joseph's Health Center in Warren, Ohio, but you didn't need a medical degree to know the situation was serious.

She didn't realize how serious until the doctor told her Luke was going into surgery.

"Can I go see him first?" she asked.

The doctor said no. The blow had knocked part of Luke's skull toward his brain. The pressure was building and he was not stable.

"That's when I knew it was a life-or-death situation," Nicole said.

The initial surgery took less than an hour. Since then it's been an endless vigil as doctors monitor the swelling and try to determine how much damage was done.

"The brain stem is healing and getting better," said Dr. James Besunder of Akron Children's Hospital. "But right now I can't tell it is going to recover 100 percent. Time will give us the answer to that question."

In the meantime, the Holkos could go crazy asking a lot of other ones.

Like, what if they'd sat just two seats to the left or right?

What if Carlson had taken the pitch?

What if they'd gone home when Luke started getting tired?

And what if there had been some netting in front of their seats?

That's a question every ambulance chaser in Ohio would like to pose to a civil jury. But the Holkos aren't interested in getting their business cards.

"In all honesty, it wasn't anybody's fault," Nicole said.

They saw the signs warning fans to beware of foul balls and errant throws. The legalese is also on the back of every ticket. But who pays attention to that?

There are about 40 foul balls per game. That means the average major league team sends more than 3,000 baseballs into the stands every year.

Multiply that by 30 big-league teams, then 176 minor-league ones. Throw in batting practice and spring training, and you have millions of foul balls every year.

Of all the ballparks and line drives in the world, how did the dark stars align to single out a little 4-year-old boy?

"I've never thought about that," Nicole said.

She's thought a lot about the help people have offered. Chad is a fireman and the Holkos have insurance, but they have no idea what the bill will eventually be or how much will be covered.

Their community has organized spaghetti dinners, a golf tournament and cookouts to raise money. A Web site, helpluke.com, has been set up for donations.

The Scrappers are donating $2 from every playoff ticket to the fund. The other teams in the New York-Penn League are taking donations.

Nicole quickly ran out of vacation days, so her co-workers donated their time off. Now she has six months of paid leave to be by Luke's side.

After him, the person she's been most concerned about is Carlson.

"He was having a real hard time," Nicole said.

The 21-year-old has visited Luke three times. He stayed for four hours last week.

"He's a wonderful young man," Nicole said. "I just want him to know we're a part of each other's lives forever now."

Luke's condition has improved from critical to serious but stable. Doctors say he's in a "locked-in" condition, where he has some knowledge of what's going on and has limited response.

Most patients in that condition can only blink their eyes, but Luke is moving his arms and legs. The other day, he squeezed his mother's hand.

"You just hold on to the positives," Nicole said. "We see things that keep us going every day."

Luke had been trying to shake his head to signify "No." On Thursday he started trying to nod his head for "Yes."

You can only hope he was thinking about the future. How great would it be if he could throw out the first pitch at next year's Scrappers' season opener?

Carlson could catch it. Then they could unveil an addition to Eastwood Field.

If the Holkos don't end up needing the money people are raising, they hope to donate it to the hospital or another worthy cause.

"Maybe to put nets up at the Scrappers games to keep this from happening again," Nicole said.

Of all the people in all the ballparks, why did this happen to Luke?

Maybe because if any family can handle this, it seems to be his.