After a devastating and near fatal assault last May, 2-year-old Kai Edmunds is on the road to recovery. A benefit called the Musical Worshipfest will be held to help his family and raise awareness of Shaken Baby Syndrome and domestic violence on Jan. 25 and 26 at Calvary Chapel in Pine Grove. Photo by: Courtesy to the Ledger Dispatch

It was a nightmare - an unreal image that's haunted the community for the better part of seven months. Few can dare to picture what actually happened on that evening last May, when a tiny, tender infant was attacked by a grown man he'd been left in the care of, viciously shaken almost to death before having his head driven into a wall.

Residents were crippled with disbelief. Some of Amador's most hardened law enforcement officers were left numb. Photographs of the 19-month-old baby in the hospital said it all - his head swaddled in gauze, his lungs locked with a ventilator, his miniature lips parted by a feeding tube. When he'd arrived at the emergency room, the odds were against him. He was unconscious. His skull was fractured. There was fluid on his brain. Yet little Kai Edmunds had more strength than perhaps anyone realized.

Now 2, Kai has slowly been battling back since his brain surgery. His mother, Gabrielle Richardson, said her son is still going through treatment at University of California, Davis, roughly eight hours a week. "At this point, everything is therapy for him," Richardson said. "He's in occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech therapy. He's also in a therapy playgroup with other children, which I think has really been good for him."

Kai's progress is visible in his healthy smile and the energy he shows as a toddler. Yet Kai has serious challenges ahead. At the moment he appears to have lost the use of his right arm and his right hand. He has a permanent loss of sight in his right vision field as well. Overall, his gross motor functions are still affected by the damage to his head - meaning his ability to walk normally is a work in progress. He was recently fit for a new leg-brace that has a hinge at the ankle.

Richardson said her son is a happy and extremely social child these days, though brain trauma has caused lingering episodes of anxiety. He also has trouble focusing. In terms of his recovery, the troubling fact is that certain challenges ahead remain unknown. "There is no prognosis," Richardson said. "Every brain injury is different. You generally find out a lot in the first six months to a year of recovery. But the doctors just can't say for sure what will happened with certain things he's facing."

None of this takes away from how proud Kai's family is in the incredible strides he's made. His mother and grandparents were recently able to brag about his first meeting with Santa Claus, in which he was the only child present who wasn't scared and eagerly went right up to sit on Santa's lap. According to everyone who knows Kai, his bravery has never been in question.

A benefit called Musical Worshipfest will be held Jan. 25 and 26 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Calvary Chapel of Amador in Pine Grove for the purpose of aiding Kai's recovery. Carol Harper, a member of Calvary Chapel and the event coordinator, hopes that everyone will feel welcome to show up. "We're asking that the community and churches come together to support Kai," Harper said in a statement, "regardless of your denomination, religious or spiritual persuasions, or whether you even go church or not. This is not about religion. This is about coming together in a spirit of love and giving for a little boy and his mother.

The fund-raiser is also stressing awareness and prevention to stop assaults like the one committed against Kai. The event will feature a presentation from Operation Care in conjunction with the Amador County Child Abuse Prevention Council. Each group hopes the public will educate themselves about Shaken Baby Syndrome and the general warning signs of domestic violence. Statistics suggest that between 15 and 30 percent of children's deaths are caused by battering or shaking.

Like Kai, some 17 percent of all cases of Shaken Baby Syndrome are perpetrated by a non-relative. More specifically, an equal 17 percent of victims of SBS are assaulted by a mother's boyfriend - just as Kai was.

Robin Valencia, who will give the prevention on SBS for the Amador Child Abuse Prevention Council, said that for every documented case like Kai's, there are an estimated 150 undocumented cases in any given area such as Amador. "A case like Kai Edmunds' can't go unnoticed because of how extreme his injuries were," she pointed out. "But there are probably many cases going on where a parent or care-giver many not realize that shaking a child, even for a few seconds, can jeopardize its life."

In the aftermath of her son's survival - and the fury over a short nine-year prison sentence for Neil Farkas, the man who nearly killed Kai, Richardson has dedicated herself to a new mission of child advocacy. "I think it's amazing what this upcoming event could do in terms of awareness of child abuse," she said. "We need to get the message out about what leads to things like this happening." Richardson added, "Kai will be at the benefit. So many people have helped us, and are still helping us. This will given them a chance to meet Kai in person. As far as what this community has done, we can never express our gratitude enough."

For George Stathos, the pastor of Calvary Chapel, being there for someone like Kai is the whole purpose of a community. "It's an honor for us to host the event," said Stathos. "It's certainly a worthy cause. We know many people in the community want to help, and we're thrilled to be part of that. The most important thing is to try to bring comfort to this family. They're in a serious struggle. We want them to know they're not alone."

For more information on Kai, visit www.babybluesforkai.com.