Harlow Preston Leg Recovery from Snowmobile Crash

This is Malorie Wilwand, Erin Preston's sister running this account. We have set this up to assist the Prestons with medical bills. Currently, it is unknown how long Harlow will stay in the U. It is anticipated to be three weeks longer but that is dependent on how the skin graft takes. We hope this will provide financial support while her parents will be without work during that time. If you would prefer to Venmo you can directly to Chris: @cpreston41. The last four numbers of his cell phone are 0600. If you have any questions or wish to express your thoughts, please reach out to Melanie Bowen or Malorie Wilwand.

On Tuesday, December 26th at 6:30 PM Erin Preston, Harlow Preston, and Kerry Bowen met Micah, Malorie, and Adelaide Wilwand in the upper parking lot on Mount Harrison. The Wilwands were joining the family to spend a night at the cabin to celebrate Christmas and Melanie Bowen's birthday. Erin drove one snowmobile with Malorie sitting in the dog sled, Adelaide in her arms, and Harlow between her legs. Micah was standing on the back. Kerry was driving a separate machine following behind. We crested the mountain and were beginning to descend into the cabin. The weight of the dog sled was greater than the snowmobile could slow down on the icy conditions. Micah bailed off the back, and Erin was thrown from the machine when the skis turned causing the machine to flip over. Malorie and Harlow were pinned under the snowmobile belt while it quickly spun because the throttle was pinned down. Erin raced to turn off the machine, and Malorie kicked her leg out pushing Harlow out as well. Micah carried Harlow into the cabin where Erin and Melanie assessed her left leg. Her snow pants were in shreds. There was a large wound that went to the bone approximately four inches around and white tissue surrounding the wound. Due to foggy conditions on the mountain, a helicopter could not meet us on the mountain. Erin held Harlow in her lap in the dog sled while Kerry drove the machine, and Malorie followed behind on a seperate machine. Once at the pickup, Harlow was loaded into the back, and Kerry headed down the mountain to meet the ambulance.

The ambulance drove Erin and Harlow to Pocatello and then to Primary Children's in Utah. After being assessed at Primary, Harlow was transported to the University of Utah ICU Burn Center. Harlow has a third-degree burn above a hole that extends to the bone. Her burn has been cleaned twice.

She has surgery tomorrow, Thursday, December 27 to see the extent of the damage and clean out the wound. Her recovery is anticipated to require multiple surgeries.