Okay Baby's Mother Katelynn Ordone Opens Up About Grief and Traumatic Brain Injury After Son's Tragic Death
Katelynn Ordone, the mother of TikTok sensation Okay Baby, is speaking candidly about her journey through grief following the tragic death of her son, Preston.
"I've put on 20 pounds since our accident," Katelynn revealed in a YouTube video published in August. "When individuals experience depression, they generally react in one of two ways. Some people, when depressed, find it impossible to eat; they can't even contemplate food and avoid touching it. Then there are others who, when depressed, find that all they can do is eat. I believe it's quite clear which type I am."
Katelynn mentioned that she is "considering trying" one of the "weight loss injections, at least for a month or two." She explained that the family "was unable to drive for a significant period" after the accident, which led to them relying on takeout meals more frequently.
"I only recently regained the ability to drive, probably about a month ago, but we were ordering takeout for so long that it simply became a routine," Katelynn stated. "I also find it hard to accomplish tasks in general, so takeout is just easier for me, but we can't maintain that indefinitely, and I genuinely want to resume cooking and preparing healthier meals."
Mother of TikTok's 'Okay Baby' Recalls 'No Memory' of Accident Due to Brain Trauma
In April, friends of Katelynn and her husband, Jaelan Ordone, disclosed that their son, Preston, passed away at the age of 2 in a single-vehicle collision. Both Katelynn and Jaelan sustained injuries, while their daughter, Paisley, was at school at the time.
The following month, Us Weekly verified that Preston's death was caused by "blunt force injuries sustained in a motor vehicle crash." The St. Tammany Parish coroner’s office classified his passing as accidental.
Katelynn later shared that she possesses "no recollection" of the accident itself. "I have no memory of the 2-3 days following the accident. My memories of being in the hospital are sparse until much later," Katelynn clarified in a TikTok video from July. "I sustained a traumatic brain injury and consequently lost a substantial part of my memory."
Katelynn noted that her father, Glen Norris, informed her about a call she made just moments after the incident occurred.
Okay Baby's Mom Shares Emotional First Public Statement After 2-Year-Old's Passing
"The accident was horrific, and somehow I managed to get hold of my phone," she explained. "I first called 911. I was on the phone with them for five minutes. The only reason I know this is because I saw it in my call logs, and then my parents have told me that I called them."
While Katelynn cannot recall sending her parents their location, she knows she urged them to "get there" immediately, and she continued to speak with her father for nearly 20 minutes.
"He could hear people asking me if I had children, and I was saying, 'I don't know.' I was completely disoriented," she recounted. "There were moments when I could speak, there were moments when I was just groaning and moaning in pain, and then there were periods of silence where I wasn't speaking at all."
