The brakes going out is pretty unnerving! Sounds like everyone survived that intact, thankfully

How did they go out? Did the pedal just sink to the floor with no grab, did they become hard to push, etc.? Are they still not working?
I'd start by hooking up a scan tool and find out what codes are being thrown. My guess is the not shifting out of 1st is a result of the other things going on. Is it running right now? Is it running well? Does it idle well?