Family, community rally behind Braeden Sconce

Braeden Sconce was involved in a car accident on Feb. 4 and is being treated at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.
Braeden Sconce was involved in a car accident on Feb. 4 and is being treated at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.

The family of Braeden Sconce stays in a waiting room at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, sleeping in recliners and cots brought by friends and family, hoping to be close to their son's side for the moment his eyes open after a car accident nearly took his life.

Braeden was driving through Lebanon the afternoon of Feb. 4. He was going home to watch the Super Bowl with his family and root for his favorite team, the Philadelphia Eagles. During a heavy snowfall, Braeden collided with another vehicle. Unconscious, bystanders pulled him from his vehicle, which had caught fire, and stayed with him until emergency services arrived.

"We're thinking, you know, small steps in positive directions, and that's kind of what we look for every day," said Shelly Sconce, Braeden's mom.

Shelly said Braeden is medically stable and not sedated anymore. He no longer is in a medically induced coma, but he is still unresponsive. Braeden has a significant traumatic brain injury; and it could take days, weeks or months before he is able to come home, she said.

Braeden graduated from South Callaway High School in 2017. He played football and golf, and was the manager for the girls basketball team.

"Though if you ask him, he was the coach," Shelly said.

Wes Sconce, Braeden's dad, said his son wanted to be a history teacher and a football coach. Braeden was attending Moberly Area Community College in Columbia after transferring from College of the Ozarks.

The family first learned what happened to Braeden when a deputy came to their house.

Wes said the family began to search for information about where Braeden might be, finally getting in touch with a doctor at the emergency room in Lebanon. Wes said the doctor did not paint a pretty picture, and could not assure them Braeden would make it to Barnes-Jewish alive.

"When (Wes) got off the phone and he turned to us and just said, 'It's not good,' I remember dropping to the floor and just starting to pray and crying," Shelly said.

Braeden made it to St. Louis and was quickly joined by family. While on their way to St. Louis, Shelly said, she called her family in the area asking them to meet Braeden at the hospital so someone he knew would be there.

During those first moments and now, prayers were "the most expensive thing" they could ask for, Wes and Shelly said.

"I can remember being in the car with both our cellphones in my hands just going through the address book just trying to call everyone that I knew would pray," Shelly said.

Wes said though it could have been easy to doubt their beliefs, what happened following the accident has deepened their faith, including the unlikelihood bystanders nearby would be strong enough to pull him out of the vehicle and that the first responders would be able to keep him alive until he could be taken to the hospital.

"I think, in a way, their lives are blessed by the opportunity to be a part of it," Wes said, "to know that at least they had their opportunity to stand in the gap and save a young man's life."

The community around South Callaway quickly rallied around Braeden, sent hopes and prayers and started fundraising campaigns to support his family's stay in St. Louis and his recovery.

Wrist bands, T-shirts and a quilt have been sold to raise funds. A GoFundMe page has raised more than $6,000.

A Facebook group called "Pray for Braeden" has more than 2,500 members and is filled with pictures, videos and posts supporting Braeden. Even strangers from outside the area have joined, because they can relate to what has happened or are inspired by the community.

Stephanie Turner, a teacher at South Callaway and friend of the Sconces, started the group so the family would be able to see the outpouring of support.

Turner said the family has not asked for the fundraising, but the community took it upon themselves to ease any worries of medical bills or the cost to stay in St. Louis.

"We come from somewhere where we all support one another, and if a family has success we all celebrate as a community," Turner said. "If we're struggling and need help, we all come together as a community to help somebody."

Braeden was a leader at South Callaway, and he remains a leader as a person who continues to have tremendous impact in the community, Turner added.

She said the Sconces have long been involved with almost everything charitable in the area.

"The amount of support that we are giving as a community to the Sconce family is in return of everything they have given us," she said.

Joe Seaman, a member of the Lebanon Fire Department, said he reached out to the Sconces after seeing posts on Facebook. He said he wasn't sure why, but he felt like he needed to.

"We rarely ever get to find out what's going on," Seaman said. "We get to see the incident at hand, we get to do the best we can, and then we never see them again."

He said they had talked to the family recently and want to keep up with Braeden's progress.

Tattooed on Braeden's bicep is the citation of a Bible verse, Galatians 6:9, which Shelly said the family is clinging to. The verse reads: "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."