Sarah's Memorial Fund
Donation protected
Hello,
My name is Jeff. My family and I are usually private and reserved people. I am writing this to share the story of our youngest daughter, Sarah...
Sarah was born normal and healthy into a loving, caring family. Sarah attended preschool followed by kindergarten. She was a kind and loving little girl whose kind spirit touched those whom she encountered in her life. Her biggest problem in her life at that time was trying to play with all of her friends that would try to make plans with her before the recess bell would ring at school because they all wanted to be around her because she was so kind and caring.
It was around this time in her life, she began to tell us she was having headaches at times. My wife and I kept logs of her activities to try to find out why she was experiencing headaches. Over time, the headaches grew more frequent and sometimes she would get sick.
In 2014, a little after she was 6 years old, An MRI revealed she had a brain tumor. The tumor was in the worst possible spot because it was in the center of her brain. It bordered the pituitary gland, and if that wasn't bad enough her optical nerves ran in front of the tumor.
Doctors attempted to remove the tumor, but the surgery ended horrible. The main artery to her brain was ruptured, and she nearly lost her life and that day. Dozensof blood transfusions were preformed before they were able to stop the bleeding.
After 16 hours we were finally able to see our daughter in the intensive care unit. We didn't even recognize her as her little face was swollen about three times its' normal size due to the trauma her brain had suffered. As a parent, you hate to see a scratch on your child, but the scene was horrific. They had taken out her bone flap (forehead bone) and couldn't put it back because her brain was so swollen. There were tubes coming out of her head, pumps and drains, heart monitors, and they had to keep her on a ventilator to keep her breathing.
We were told by Doctors it could take 15 months before we would fully know how she would fare from the injuries. In addition to everything, we were told not all of the tumor was removed, and we would be lucky if our daughter lived for a year.
Now, I'm skipping over a lot of details in the story, but our daughter ended up having a massive stroke because of the trauma sustained to her brain and the massive blood loss. She lost her ability to open her eyes, they went in different directions when we lifted her eyelids up, and her pupils remained fixed because of the lack of oxygen to her organs when the artery was injured., she lost her ability to talk, to walk, to move, and speak.
After spending almost, a year in the Hospital, she was able to come home. She couldn't feed herself, (we first had a tube running from her nose and into her stomach to feed her, but later had a stomach tube (G-tube) placed to feed her from a bag of prepared liquid nutrition, she couldn't control her bowel and bladder movements, couldn't control her body temperature, and other hormones in her body (her pituitary gland that controls some of these functions was damaged). One thing she was able to do was hear and understand us when we spoke to her, and respond sometimes with a blink of her closed eyelids for a , "yes" response.
All we could do as parents was love her and pray. For almost the last five years she struggled with more sickness and in and out of Hospitals. Despite all of her pain, her tremendous loss of the youthful, playful little girl, she never gave up. Her spirit was strong, and like she would when she was a little girl in school, people would gravitate toward her because of it. She would smile at times. It's hard to put words to it, but she had a way to get into a person's heart and have a positive effect on them. Her light and spirit did shine.
The hopes and dreams you have for your child are crushed. As a father, I can tell you I would have traded places with her so she could have lived a long healthy life in this World. What happened was devastating to her, myself, and the rest of our family. I told my wife many of times I would have cut my own arm off just to hear her voice again. After that moment, her old friends didn't come around anymore. It was hard for them too, putting myself in their shoes. These young boys and girls didn't know what to do or say seeing their once vibrant friend now unrecognizable to them and confined to a bed or a wheel chair.
A few days ago, my wife and I were on our way to the emergency room with Sarah because she was requiring oxygen to help her breathe. Her breathing was becoming more and more labored. We were a few miles from the Hospital when my wife had to begin rescue breathing on Sarah. I called 911 and had taken an exit of the Interstate. Paramedics, Fire fighters, EMT’s, Local Police, and State Patrol responded to our location.
I helped remove Sarah from our vehicle and First Responders (about 15 of them) took action. I'm not going to go into the details of the scene, but it was devastating and Sarah died right there. I can honestly say there is no greater pain for a parent than to have your child die a traumatic death right in front of you.
I could see by the reactions of the first responders, despite their efforts to maintain a professional composure, it was a very traumatic situation for them too. I could surmise from some of the reactions of those first responders trying to keep their composure, they probably had a child or children of their own, but were overcome with emotions, and despite their best efforts, of trying to save our daughter's life, she died in front of them. All you can do in this life is your best. I thank them all for giving their best.
People ask us if there is anything they can do, bring flowers, or food. I only ask if they can pray for Sarah and our family, and if they choose to donate, know the funding is going to the mission of helping to pay for the costs of a funeral, and to memorialize our daughter and her legacy.
If you can't, that's ok too. Just know this. LOVE = TIME. Spend time with those you love today. Don't wait until tomorrow to do something. Don't wait until someone is dead to give them flowers. Put down your phone, and spend time with them.
The next time you are stressed out, and are irritated by your child who is asking, "why", crying, or getting on your last nerve, be thankful you can hear their voice, hug them and tell them you love them instead. There is no greater gift than that of a child.
My name is Jeff. My family and I are usually private and reserved people. I am writing this to share the story of our youngest daughter, Sarah...
Sarah was born normal and healthy into a loving, caring family. Sarah attended preschool followed by kindergarten. She was a kind and loving little girl whose kind spirit touched those whom she encountered in her life. Her biggest problem in her life at that time was trying to play with all of her friends that would try to make plans with her before the recess bell would ring at school because they all wanted to be around her because she was so kind and caring.
It was around this time in her life, she began to tell us she was having headaches at times. My wife and I kept logs of her activities to try to find out why she was experiencing headaches. Over time, the headaches grew more frequent and sometimes she would get sick.
In 2014, a little after she was 6 years old, An MRI revealed she had a brain tumor. The tumor was in the worst possible spot because it was in the center of her brain. It bordered the pituitary gland, and if that wasn't bad enough her optical nerves ran in front of the tumor.
Doctors attempted to remove the tumor, but the surgery ended horrible. The main artery to her brain was ruptured, and she nearly lost her life and that day. Dozensof blood transfusions were preformed before they were able to stop the bleeding.
After 16 hours we were finally able to see our daughter in the intensive care unit. We didn't even recognize her as her little face was swollen about three times its' normal size due to the trauma her brain had suffered. As a parent, you hate to see a scratch on your child, but the scene was horrific. They had taken out her bone flap (forehead bone) and couldn't put it back because her brain was so swollen. There were tubes coming out of her head, pumps and drains, heart monitors, and they had to keep her on a ventilator to keep her breathing.
We were told by Doctors it could take 15 months before we would fully know how she would fare from the injuries. In addition to everything, we were told not all of the tumor was removed, and we would be lucky if our daughter lived for a year.
Now, I'm skipping over a lot of details in the story, but our daughter ended up having a massive stroke because of the trauma sustained to her brain and the massive blood loss. She lost her ability to open her eyes, they went in different directions when we lifted her eyelids up, and her pupils remained fixed because of the lack of oxygen to her organs when the artery was injured., she lost her ability to talk, to walk, to move, and speak.
After spending almost, a year in the Hospital, she was able to come home. She couldn't feed herself, (we first had a tube running from her nose and into her stomach to feed her, but later had a stomach tube (G-tube) placed to feed her from a bag of prepared liquid nutrition, she couldn't control her bowel and bladder movements, couldn't control her body temperature, and other hormones in her body (her pituitary gland that controls some of these functions was damaged). One thing she was able to do was hear and understand us when we spoke to her, and respond sometimes with a blink of her closed eyelids for a , "yes" response.
All we could do as parents was love her and pray. For almost the last five years she struggled with more sickness and in and out of Hospitals. Despite all of her pain, her tremendous loss of the youthful, playful little girl, she never gave up. Her spirit was strong, and like she would when she was a little girl in school, people would gravitate toward her because of it. She would smile at times. It's hard to put words to it, but she had a way to get into a person's heart and have a positive effect on them. Her light and spirit did shine.
The hopes and dreams you have for your child are crushed. As a father, I can tell you I would have traded places with her so she could have lived a long healthy life in this World. What happened was devastating to her, myself, and the rest of our family. I told my wife many of times I would have cut my own arm off just to hear her voice again. After that moment, her old friends didn't come around anymore. It was hard for them too, putting myself in their shoes. These young boys and girls didn't know what to do or say seeing their once vibrant friend now unrecognizable to them and confined to a bed or a wheel chair.
A few days ago, my wife and I were on our way to the emergency room with Sarah because she was requiring oxygen to help her breathe. Her breathing was becoming more and more labored. We were a few miles from the Hospital when my wife had to begin rescue breathing on Sarah. I called 911 and had taken an exit of the Interstate. Paramedics, Fire fighters, EMT’s, Local Police, and State Patrol responded to our location.
I helped remove Sarah from our vehicle and First Responders (about 15 of them) took action. I'm not going to go into the details of the scene, but it was devastating and Sarah died right there. I can honestly say there is no greater pain for a parent than to have your child die a traumatic death right in front of you.
I could see by the reactions of the first responders, despite their efforts to maintain a professional composure, it was a very traumatic situation for them too. I could surmise from some of the reactions of those first responders trying to keep their composure, they probably had a child or children of their own, but were overcome with emotions, and despite their best efforts, of trying to save our daughter's life, she died in front of them. All you can do in this life is your best. I thank them all for giving their best.
People ask us if there is anything they can do, bring flowers, or food. I only ask if they can pray for Sarah and our family, and if they choose to donate, know the funding is going to the mission of helping to pay for the costs of a funeral, and to memorialize our daughter and her legacy.
If you can't, that's ok too. Just know this. LOVE = TIME. Spend time with those you love today. Don't wait until tomorrow to do something. Don't wait until someone is dead to give them flowers. Put down your phone, and spend time with them.
The next time you are stressed out, and are irritated by your child who is asking, "why", crying, or getting on your last nerve, be thankful you can hear their voice, hug them and tell them you love them instead. There is no greater gift than that of a child.
Organizer
John Smith
Organizer
Spokane, WA
