NATCHEZ — Just weeks before 5-year-old Carter Scott was to pick up a new four-legged best friend in the form of an autism service dog, a traumatic injury landed him in intensive care for six weeks.

In mid-June, a little more than a week after his fifth birthday, Carter was visiting his father in Baton Rouge and suffered an “upper airway crisis,” the cause of which is unknown, said Carter’s mother, Cristy Carter of Woodville.

Carter had to be intubated and was placed on a ventilator for six weeks. After four weeks, doctors performed a tracheotomy.

Carter was diagnosed with autism in August of 2010 and because of that, he is difficult to sedate, Cristy said. That meant it took an “enormous amount” of medication to keep Carter sedated and still so he could heal, Cristy said.

“He would wake up and pull everything out,” she said.

Because of the heavy medication Carter was on to keep him sedated throughout his hospital stay, he had to be weaned off it with methadone and Valium over six weeks.

What Cristy was originally told would only be a one- or two-day hospital stay turned into six weeks and another three months of Carter living with a trach at home.

“It just turned into a long nightmare,” she said.

The trach came out on Nov. 13, and doctors removed scar tissue.

“He’s doing great now,” she said.

But it has not been an easy road, Cristy said.

“With autism, you can imagine how difficult it’s been for him sensory wise,” she said. “Transitioning is not something he has ever done well at all.”

Carter also has obsessive-compulsive disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and facial blindness, an inability to recognize faces, even that of Cristy’s, without voice or other sensory recognition.

Since his stay in the hospital, Carter’s OCD symptoms have worsened because of frontal lobe brain damage suffered from oxygen depletion before he was intubated and during several failed attempts to take him off the ventilator.

Because Carter’s OCD is worse than ever, Cristy said a service dog for her son will now be an even bigger blessing than she had imagined.

“It will always be a battle, but the dog is going to help us even more than we had thought,” she said. “The dog will soothe him and help him transition and basically be an extra set of eyes on him.”

Carter’s dog is trained by 4 Paws for Ability in Ohio based on video of Carter documenting his best and worst behaviors that Cristy has sent the training team.

The dog will be tethered to Carter and trained to alert Cristy if Carter becomes untethered. The dog will also be trained to track Carter if he runs off, as well as soothe Carter during tantrums and help him transition into situations throughout the day.

Carter will also be able to take his dog to school, Cristy said. Carter is a kindergarten student at West Elementary, where Cristy was able to enroll Carter since resources for his disabilities were not available in Wilkinson County.

Cristy has formed friendships on Facebook with parents of children who have received service dogs from 4 Paws.

“They say it’s life-changing,” she said.

Carter, Cristy and Jessica Scott, Carter’s aunt from Baton Rouge, will fly to Ohio in March for a two-week stay in Xenia to meet the dog — which Cristy said Carter has already named Oscar — and go through extensive training classes. Carter will also bond with the dog during that time.

Cristy is required to bring an extra adult on the trip for training exercises that require more than one adult per child and in case Carter has a meltdown and needs attention during the classes.

“They can’t stop the class just for me to tend to him, so I need someone there,” she said.

Scott said she is excited for the trip because she knows a service dog will be a tremendous help to Carter.

Speaking about how special her nephew is brings tears to Scott’s eyes.

“Despite everything he has went through and had to deal with at such a young age, he has always smiled and stayed happy,” she said. “He has never let anything get him down … and I think having that outlook will get him places in life.”

Cristy had money saved for the $8,000 trip, which includes airfare, a suite where Carter can have the service dog, car rental, groceries and other expenses.

Carter’s unexpected stay in the hospital, however, depleted Cristy’s savings.

Cristy, who runs her own business — thereforourkids.com — from home, said donations made purchasing Carter’s service dog possible, and she is hoping donations will allow them to take the trip to get the dog.

“It was just overwhelming the support that was showed to us,” Cristy said. “I just want to thank everyone because we would not be here to this point without them.”

Cristy said she is also grateful to McCants Mobile Homes of Woodville for fundraising the business has done for their trip.

Anyone wishing to donate for the family’s trip to Ohio can visit gofundme.com/carterscott to make an online contribution.

Donations may also be mailed to 4 Paws for Carter, 11016 U.S. 61 N., Woodville, MS, 39669.

Cristy can be contacted at 601-870-2626.