Aleck Mills. Image supplied by family
by Health Impact News/MedicalKidnap.com Staff
Bayork Mills of Oklahoma City is a mother frightened for the safety of her children. In her own words she describes the terrible fear that overtook her husband as he tried desperately to revive their son while she was away from home at the time.
These parents are not doctors. They are typical loving parents who when confronted with an unnatural occurrence in the health of their child sought medical help as any reasonable person would do. In her own words, Bayork expresses the helplessness her husband felt while trying to care for their son:
Our son (2 months old at the time) was in a bouncy chair blowing bubbles and making baby talk like usual. Their father heard a thud and our son begin to cry as if he had gotten hurt but their father did not see anything with his two eyes. Our daughter was on the floor as if she may have fallen and landed next to his bouncy chair or may have even fallen on him. No one was sure as to what the thud was about. [sic]
The father took their child to the emergency room where he was seen by medical staff. Bayork joined her husband and they were told only that there was a possible head injury and that the parents should take him home and observe him. They did as told, but were concerned about their son’s health as his condition worsened:
He had worsen so we took him back to the same E.R. and told them our concerns grew bigger for our son and we wanting something done. At this time they preformed an ultrasound, CT, Spinal tap, and X-ray on our son. The results told to us were that he had a Subdural Hematoma. They told us they needed to send us to another hospital that would have “specialists” that could take better care of him. We were upset they did not tell us to go to specialists the first day but only sent him back home. They had also informed me at this time that they had to get CPS involved as the “story” or “explanation” we had given about our concerns would not cause any bleeding in his head.[sic]
Aleck with his father. Image supplied by family.
During the return visit, the hospital staff ran the necessary tests to make a determination of the child’s condition listing it as “Venous Thrombosis.” However, the parents state they were never told what the term meant.
“They never told us what the term Venous Thrombosis meant…They knew he had a stroke, but didn’t tell us.”
This stroke allegedly went untreated for some time as Bayork and her husband waited to be seen by the specialist at the new hospital who would later only explain the difference between new and old blood coloration in the child’s brain while questioning her regarding her husband’s story about the incident and an alleged broken rib:
At this time they had given him 3 more X-rays as if they were looking for something but was not being open to their father or me about anything they were looking for or seeing. We kept asking questions which we would either not get clear answers or we would be told to direct the questions to a head doctor that was almost always too busy to answer our questions unless we had scheduled a time to see this doctor.
He needed an MRI is what we were told but the doctors did not want the weekend crew to perform this MRI so my son was scheduled for his first MRI after his weekend wait …even though my son hadn’t had his first MRI done that night a CPS worker was in his room and an officer asked his dad to walk to another room with him to discuss what had happen to our son. The CPS worker wanted to only speak with me. She told me they had a court order to take my daughter in. While I was upset she was trying to ensure me my daughter would be taken care of but I knew what DHS was like in Oklahoma as I was a past victim of the shelter they put children in.[sic]
CPS Steps in and Takes Custody of Both Children
Oklahoma City Child Protective Services allegedly removed not only their son, but also their daughter from her sleep while at her grandmother’s house. Bayork wrote that she was threatened with not being able to stay with her son in the hospital if she did not disclose the whereabouts of her daughter.
Both children were taken from their parents. The immediate fear of the parents to find the cause of their child’s blackout, became multiplied with the implementation of an unwritten CPS allegation of “Shaken Baby Syndrome,” and the doctors’ attempt to find physical evidence of “non-accidental trauma”:
We had to wait a day before we could view his MRI results he had done that Monday. The head doctor that was over seeing his care came into his room and logged onto the computer that was kept in his room. She pulled up two images alone. One was his X-ray and the other was his MRI. Going over the X-ray image she picked up a pen and began to count his ribs. She wasn’t sure where the location of their concern was but she informed me they believed my son had an “old healing rib fracture.” She found it hard to find the location and told me “I think this is where the rib fracture should be.” I couldn’t believe she couldn’t recognize where they believed they seen anything at all! I expressed that I did not believe they diagnosed this right as he was a happy and normal baby instead of a baby that would be fussy or show some type of sign of pain from such an injury.
Next she pulled up one MRI image and told me that the grey blood was older blood. The white blood was the newest. He had about 95% of it grey and 5% of it white. I asked what time frame could this image explain to us but even after her answer I was still left with a lot of questions as she told me “they couldn’t be 100% sure but they believed it all was very recent and could not be over a week old.”
After their son was placed in CPS custody and admitted to the hospital, the parents stated that he was not being cared for properly.
When we were at the hospital and our son had an I-V, it didn’t look right so we got someone to check it. When they took the I-V out, his arm was three times the size of the other. The medicine that could have helped him never got to him. It was sitting in his arm.
A Trial and Termination of Parental Rights
Bayork and her husband stated they were never told what Venous Thrombosis meant, but the doctors had made this diagnosis during their return trip to the initial hospital and several days had passed—time that is precious for any stroke victim. They also stated that stroke information was withheld from CPS paperwork and from the subsequent trial that would terminate their parental rights.
This all took place in September 2014. Our rights were terminated due to a jury trial that was designed to screw us. Our attorneys that worked for CPS (Called court appointed attorneys) did not submit any evidence we could have used. Neither objected to anything said against us. Neither one recommended we find expert witnesses and we had no witnesses on our behalf at all! …Their father is being accused of Shaking Aleck and case is being called “Shaken Baby Syndrome” in court but not on paperwork that was not even shown or introduced in jury trial that terminated our rights… [sic]
The attorneys did little to nothing more than just show up and my attorney wanted to ask the DA and children’s attorney what color shirts they would be wearing so she could decide for herself what color shirt to wear instead of actually representing me in my jury trial. So it was no surprise the jury made their decision to terminate. Only witnesses that took the stand beside myself and their father was 4 doctors, two of which we never met a day in our lives that supposedly took over our son’s care after he was taken into custody, the case worker herself and the original CPS worker that took my babies before anyone else came into play. Of course all they had to say were lies against us. Lies that we could have proven wrong if our attorneys had actually allowed us to submit any evidence. One very important detail is while the jury trial was taking place not once did any of my son’s medical paperwork ever make it into the trial. Not once did any of his test results be discussed or shown at the jury trial either.
We kept going to the hospital to request my son’s medical records. Once we weren’t in the hospital with him anymore they blocked us from any of his medical records and denied us access to them. Until…June 15th 2015. Their father gained access and we pulled the information. I found an attorney in Seattle, WA by the name Heather Kirkwood that has been very successful in winning “Baby Shaken Syndrome” cases and proving the innocence of the parents involved in them cases. So I found an e-mail and thought it was a risk worth taking. She wasted no time in getting back to me. Asked me to speak with her over the phone later and we did. She thought the paper work would be vital so we gathered it together and sent her the medical records for our son. She read over it and sent me a message stating, “They are describing probable thrombosis on MRI, unbelievable.” She set up a time for us to speak over the phone again. She explained to me what the paperwork was stating and the information was all too new to me as none of the doctors that have been handling my son has ever mentioned any of this. My son had suffered from a stroke. He had a clot in his vein. When his brain couldn’t get the oxygen it needed began bleeding on the inside because of this. Sadly my son does have some brain damage that can never be fixed.
As for this new information it is outrageous to us that we did not get to know all the information for us to even defend ourselves. It has been outrageous they could go so far with violating our rights we did not know we had and now even knowing the information we know now we will have to start the long process of getting this new information out and saving our babies that were clearly medically kidnapped from us by the system that was supposed to be created to protect them and the doctors that covered their tracks and handed our babies to CPS all t together! We will not stop until our babies get the justice they deserve and are released to the only family that ever loved them, their biological family that is fighting for them.[sic]
New Attorney Steps in to Help Fight for Their Children
Bayork alleges that her children were taken by child protective services after their two month old son was taken to the hospital when he became unconscious while sitting in a bouncy seat. The
child reportedly suffered a stroke, but the parents wrote that they only learned of the stroke after getting in touch with a new attorney whom they called for help to fight their case after their rights were terminated.
They said we never told them our son lost consciousness, but we did. The attorney who is helping us is an angel. She told us what the term meant.
It has been duly noted by physicians that a bouncy chair can mimic the alleged injuries due to shaking a baby, and although the emergency room technicians were said to have stated that the injuries were not concurrent with the scenario presented by the parents as the probable cause for the blackout, “Shaken Baby Syndrome” became the whispered allegation that would stop the hospital’s search for the true cause of the stroke or “Venous Thrombosis” in baby Aleck.
Bayork Mills and her husband have not seen their babies Aleck and Mariposa since they were taken under state supervision on February 17, 2015. Bayork says that there is no pending court date only
the appeal which has been submitted for review over the next six months. The Mills children have now been placed into foster care and pending adoption. The only thing keeping the Mill’s children from being adopted is the appeal put into place with the help of Attorney Kirkwood.
The Mills are still fighting to regain their rights to raise their own children in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma with the generous aid of Heather Kirkwood. Bayork informs us that they are putting together a site and want it to be available to all who have been “victims like myself and my husband.” They vow to continue the fight even after their children are returned:
I would love to share the resources i have. I feel there is a lot that i would love to bring to world’s attention. I have set up a facebook page for all these resources and for victims i could help if i did so. I believe it would be great as we plan to keep fighting even if we gain our custody back to our children because we understand even if we were to win in court, no matter where in this country we could possibly go they will always be put at risk of these monsters coming back into their lives and kidnapping them once again! [sic]
The Mills want their voices to be heard throughout the world:
“…I am a mother of two beautiful babies. I call them babies not only because they will always be my babies but also because they are still at the age of being called so. My daughter turned 2 this year and my son will turn one in a few weeks.” (Bayork)
The Mills Family Facebook Support Page:
To aid the Mills in their fight for their family, make sure her story is heard.
Contact the Oklahoma Governor, Mary Fallin here.
The Mills family State Representative is Richard Daniel Morrissette. Contact him here.
The Mills family State Senator is Kay Floyd. Contact her here.
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See Also:
Are New Pediatric “Child Abuse Specialists” Causing an Increase in Medical Kidnappings?