Kayla Masdon, of Melbourne, FL, was enjoying a trip to Maine to visit her boyfriend's family. During the trip, she and her boyfriend, Alex, decided to drive to NH's beautiful mountains and enjoy a short hike. On Friday, August 19th, 2022, they embarked on their hike on the Falling Waters trail in Franconia Notch State Park. During their descent around 1:30, Kayla slipped on a flat rock that was wet, causing her to slide with no control. This slide led her to fall seven to eight feet onto rocks below. She landed on her back, causing extreme pain and numbness in her lower abdomen. Unable to support her weight, they called emergency services. Two hours after the incident, the leading rescue team arrived, tended to her injuries, and warmed her up before they set her up in a litter to take her down the mountain. At 3:30, they started the descent arriving at the base around 5:30, where an ambulance was waiting to take Kayla to Littleton Hospital.

After arriving at the hospital, Kayla received a CT scan determining that she had shattered her L1 vertebrae and parts of the bone punctured her spinal cord, limiting her range of motion and sensitivity in her legs and lower abdomen. The doctor requested an airlift to Dartmouth Hitchcock Trauma Hospital in such a critical situation.

The following morning, Saturday, Kayla was sent into surgery to remove bone pieces and complete a spinal fusion with rods and screws that span from her L1 to the L11 vertebrae. She remained in ICU for five days before moving to a step-down room.

Fortunately, the surgery was successful. However, Kayla has not regained feeling in her abdomen, causing neurogenic bladder/bowel. She will continue to work on regaining her strength and stability so she can walk on her own at the hospital but will need acute rehabilitation at a local rehab facility upon leaving Dartmouth Hospital.

Kayla is a kind, loving person who everyone loves upon meeting her. She has a warm and charming heart. Unfortunately, her childhood passion of gaining her psychology doctorate has now been put on hold at the University of Central Florida due to the accident. Currently Kayla will not be able to return to her job as a bartender at Pineapples in Melbourne, where she works to pay for college.

All the services she is receiving at the hospital and rehab facility, along with the ambulance ride and med-flight, will be a cost that she and her family will struggle to pay. Any help you can give this wonderful lady and her family will be greatly appreciated. All funds will go to Kayla's medical and future physical therapy needs.

Click the below link to watch the news report.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1kHhAvZN-g

8/27/22 - A lovely thank you from Kayla:

I wanted to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for all the prayers, love, and support I’ve gotten. As of right now, I am still in Dartmouth Hospital, NH. We are waiting on a bed to open up at an acute rehab facility that will work with me on my ability to start walking again and regaining lower abdomen functions. Each day has been better than the last, and I am thanking God daily for everyone that is supporting me ❤️ ❤️❤️