Nicole’s Leap... Please Help!
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Video detailing the horrible events of that day:
https://youtu.be/0pg-iKfFzUY
October 8, 2020
Dear family and friends,
So many of you have reached out to us that I feel that I must say something. I do not respond much to Social Media. Nevertheless, we are eternally grateful to you for all of the outpourings of love and prayers, and though I may not respond to you personally, I am humbled by your love and concern for our daughter Nicole.
As many of you know, our beautiful daughter Nicole tried to end her life by jumping from the cliffs behind the towers on Webb Hill. She nearly succeeded. Her injuries are too many to name. She broke almost all the major bones in her body, as well as her spine in multiple places, and ruptured several organs. She is most likely paralyzed from the waist down. She is on a ventilator. If she remains stable, the plan is to take her to surgery late this afternoon, remove the hardware in her lumbar spine, decompress the spinal cord and fix the thoracic spine. The neurosurgeon wanted to do it yesterday, but the trauma surgeon didn’t think she would survive the surgery.
What does God want me to learn from this horrific ordeal? I have learned that grief comes in waves. It comes like a tidal wave that crashes down upon the shore. And when it crashes, it hurts so much you can’t even breathe. You feel like you’re drowning. Then God gives you a little reprieve until the next tidal wave comes. I’ve learned that every day is precious. That life is precious. I’ve learned that every single person is fighting an unseen battle. I’ve learned that I must be more understanding and more compassionate to others. I must be more tolerant, more loving, and more like my Savior Jesus Christ. Nicole is all of these things and more.
If the God of this world can suffer as he did in the Garden of Gethsemane – then who am I to resist the lessons to be learned from my own suffering? Was it the purpose of my daughter’s life to teach me to become more like Christ? If so, then her life was not in vain.
If she remains stable, she will undergo surgery for the second time in 24 hours. It will certainly not be the last time. If she survives the surgery, she will have months if not years of rehabilitation ahead.
As I sit here in ICU, looking down on my daughter’s bruised and broken body, I know that the Lord Jesus Christ loves brokenness because He, the God of the Universe, was broken himself …
“But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes, we are healed.”
Isaiah 53:5
Thank you all for your kind thoughts and prayers. We as a family would like to ask for prayers to be directed for Nicole’s healing. But we ask, not our will, but God’s will be done. If God chooses to NOT heal her broken body, if my daughter never walks again, then please please please pray that He will heal her broken mind. . . .
I will never assume to understand the complexity and gravity of the darkened world of Mental illness that my daughter lives in. In the note that she left, she describes the torture of her mind, body, and soul as being in a burning building with only one option left, and that is –to jump.
God’s purposes are accomplished through suffering. The Nicole I know, who is free from mental illness, is smart and beautiful, hilariously funny, and talented, and she loves the Lord Jesus Christ. She was always lifting others, she showed kindness, love and understanding to those who struggled. She understood the pain of others because she was well-acquainted with pain herself. Thank you for your prayers on behalf of my daughter.
Thank you also to the paramedics who spent over an hour extracting my daughter from the canyon, the trauma team who received her and worked so hard to save her life. The surgeons, nurses, and respiratory therapists who continue to care for her and monitor her status. Thank you!
Barbara
https://youtu.be/0pg-iKfFzUY
October 8, 2020
Dear family and friends,
So many of you have reached out to us that I feel that I must say something. I do not respond much to Social Media. Nevertheless, we are eternally grateful to you for all of the outpourings of love and prayers, and though I may not respond to you personally, I am humbled by your love and concern for our daughter Nicole.
As many of you know, our beautiful daughter Nicole tried to end her life by jumping from the cliffs behind the towers on Webb Hill. She nearly succeeded. Her injuries are too many to name. She broke almost all the major bones in her body, as well as her spine in multiple places, and ruptured several organs. She is most likely paralyzed from the waist down. She is on a ventilator. If she remains stable, the plan is to take her to surgery late this afternoon, remove the hardware in her lumbar spine, decompress the spinal cord and fix the thoracic spine. The neurosurgeon wanted to do it yesterday, but the trauma surgeon didn’t think she would survive the surgery.
What does God want me to learn from this horrific ordeal? I have learned that grief comes in waves. It comes like a tidal wave that crashes down upon the shore. And when it crashes, it hurts so much you can’t even breathe. You feel like you’re drowning. Then God gives you a little reprieve until the next tidal wave comes. I’ve learned that every day is precious. That life is precious. I’ve learned that every single person is fighting an unseen battle. I’ve learned that I must be more understanding and more compassionate to others. I must be more tolerant, more loving, and more like my Savior Jesus Christ. Nicole is all of these things and more.
If the God of this world can suffer as he did in the Garden of Gethsemane – then who am I to resist the lessons to be learned from my own suffering? Was it the purpose of my daughter’s life to teach me to become more like Christ? If so, then her life was not in vain.
If she remains stable, she will undergo surgery for the second time in 24 hours. It will certainly not be the last time. If she survives the surgery, she will have months if not years of rehabilitation ahead.
As I sit here in ICU, looking down on my daughter’s bruised and broken body, I know that the Lord Jesus Christ loves brokenness because He, the God of the Universe, was broken himself …
“But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes, we are healed.”
Isaiah 53:5
Thank you all for your kind thoughts and prayers. We as a family would like to ask for prayers to be directed for Nicole’s healing. But we ask, not our will, but God’s will be done. If God chooses to NOT heal her broken body, if my daughter never walks again, then please please please pray that He will heal her broken mind. . . .
I will never assume to understand the complexity and gravity of the darkened world of Mental illness that my daughter lives in. In the note that she left, she describes the torture of her mind, body, and soul as being in a burning building with only one option left, and that is –to jump.
God’s purposes are accomplished through suffering. The Nicole I know, who is free from mental illness, is smart and beautiful, hilariously funny, and talented, and she loves the Lord Jesus Christ. She was always lifting others, she showed kindness, love and understanding to those who struggled. She understood the pain of others because she was well-acquainted with pain herself. Thank you for your prayers on behalf of my daughter.
Thank you also to the paramedics who spent over an hour extracting my daughter from the canyon, the trauma team who received her and worked so hard to save her life. The surgeons, nurses, and respiratory therapists who continue to care for her and monitor her status. Thank you!
Barbara
Organizer and beneficiary
Levi Hilton
Organizer
Monument, CO
Ralph Hilton
Beneficiary
