Muskogee 1 Year Old Fights For Life After Emergency Brain Surgery

Hours after undergoing emergency brain surgery, a 1-year-old boy is fighting for his life.

Gunner Asher was rushed by helicopter to St. Francis Children's hospital after his family said he was hurt late Thursday night.

The family said they know who's responsible but, right now, police won't confirm who that person is. However, they said one person of interest has come by the station.

It's hard for Joseph Asher to keep the tears from falling as he talks about his 1-year-old son, Gunner.

"It hurts that I can't do anything for him and I should have been there, but I couldn't. I couldn't protect him," he said.

The 1-year-old Muskogee County boy is in critical condition at St. Francis Children's Hospital after suffering from blunt force trauma.

Asher said just before midnight, his son was rushed to Checotah hospital and then flown to Tulsa.

Police haven't confirmed it, but Asher said he knows who is to blame.

"This man has put my baby in a coma and he might not wake up from it,” Asher said.

He said, Thursday night, the man was babysitting Gunner and took the child to his mother, who was at work. By then, Asher said Gunner was already unconscious.

"The doctor came out and said there were two types of shaken baby syndrome. The first one is just the shaking to get them to quiet down and the second is to shake and it can rattle the brain loose from the skull, and he said it looks like my son was dropped from a two story window," he said.

Asher said, to keep pressure off baby Gunner's brain, surgeons made a the-and-a-half inch cut on the top of the baby's head to relieve the pressure.

Gunner's family said, at this point, it's a miracle the baby is alive.

"All we can do is be strong for him and hope he makes it," Asher said.

The family gave us a picture of the person who they said is responsible, but we are holding off on showing it until police confirm who the person of interest is.