I tried to read this aloud to Nick, but cant talk. So much emotion still. This is the article that goes along with the photo below. The words hit hard, maybe because they are parents, too. Two scared, young girls who were just involved in a horrific traffic accident, looked at their emergency medical workers and said, “I don’t want to die.” That heart ripping moment that rolled out only minutes after the two-vehicle crash in north Cape Coral on Dec. 15 was emotional for all the first responders who did their jobs exceptionally well that day. But it was two moments for the man in charge of Squad 9, fire department Lt. Kevin Haines, that really hit home. The first came when he approached the mangled van after the accident. “I walked up to Mom holding the (the child) in her arms, the mom covered in blood, the child’s arms just hanging to the side,” Haines said. He knew then, it was serious. In emergency terms, this was a “pediatric trauma alert.” This was a young child clinging to life, her mom worried she could die. “In my 18 years on the job, I have seen a lot of things, but Mom holding that little girl rattled me a little bit.” The mom, Jessica Shipley, of Cape Coral, who was driving the van with her three daughters inside, remembers jumping into the back seat while the van was still moving after being struck broadside by a pickup truck, police say, ran a stop sign at El Dorado Boulevard and Embers Parkway West. Jessica, who was not injured, wanted to get to two of the daughters, who were on top of each other, despite safety devices, after the vehicle spun around from the impact. She lifted 8-year-old Chaylen Garcia, into arms, thinking the worst. “I thought she was dead,” Jessica said. “She wasn’t breathing. I told a person who came to the van to get her sister (5-year-old Emerie Garcia) out of here. I didn’t want her to watch her sister die.” Chaylen was in an ambulance — alive — and headed to Lee Memorial Hospital’s trauma center within three minutes. Her injuries included a lacerated liver, broken clavicle, broken ribs, numerous facial lacerations, as well as a concussion. Haines’ second moment came when Emerie, who also was injured. Emerie started to complain of abdominal pain after initially showing no signs of injury. Suddenly, she told Haines “my belly hurts, I need to sit,” he said. She sat on his knee. Then, she put her arm around his neck and her head on his chest, continuing to complain of the stomach pain. “I knew she was declining a little bit,” Haines said. He consulted with a paramedic and they determined the potential existed for another pediatric trauma alert. Off she went to the hospital. The third daughter, Charis Garcia, 9, was sitting next to her mother and not injured seriously. But that moment both the seriously-injured girls said they didn’t want to die was when these emergency workers — professional and composed most of the time — were shaken. When they returned to their station later that day, they talked about how intense those moments were, how they were professionals, but also they were parents with kids of similar age. Those kids faced death, and these workers knew it. That’s what made this accident different. It could have been one of their own. The police, firefighters, emergency medical technicians and paramedics all did their jobs — at a high level — that day. But what sometimes goes missing is after they perform these amazing medical tasks, the victims leave and they have no idea what happens to them. “One of the hardest parts is that we don’t get an update,” Haines said. “Honestly, we don’t get a lot of feedback. We impact somebody’s life in a positive way and that is the last we hear of it.” This time was different. One of the police officers knew a member of the family. Haines received a call from him that there were presents remaining from the police department’s “Shop with a Cop” event and they were planning a rendezvous at the house of the children’s grandparents, Kurt and Sally Erlywine, in Cape Coral. “He said we would really like it if you went with us,” Haines said. “I said, ‘absolutely.’ ” So on Christmas Eve, most of the emergency workers that day — and they were approximately 14 — showed up at the Erlywines with gifts. Two of the children, Emerie and Charis, were there. Chaylen remained at Tampa General, where she was airlifted to the children’s intensive care unit because of the significance of her injuries, but she was able to watch through FaceTime. “It was unbelievable,” Kurt Erlywine said. “I knew the lieutenant was going to come by, but then I look outside and there are police cars, a firetruck and an ambulance. (The children) were very surprised.” I asked Haines if Emerie remembered clutching him after the accident. “She said she did,” he added. “We got vested with every patient we have, but very seldom do we get the followup. The fact that it was Christmas, and all of us have kids; honestly, it was about healing for us. You see them in a different environment. We also got to chat with the mom and Chaylen. They got to see the girls get their gifts.” The best gift for this family came Wednesday. Chaylen was released from the hospital and returned to Cape Coral to what I am sure were plenty of presents and even more hugs and kisses. For the group of first responders, there is greater gift then knowing these children, whose lives were in their hands, are returning to what they do best – being little girls. Tom Hayden is engagement editor at The News-Press.
Posted on: Tue, 06 Jan 2015 00:12:09 +0000
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