Carrie will never forget the day of May 12, 2010. It is a day that brings some horrific memories as well as incredible thankfulness.
It was a beautiful spring day and six-year old Katie and her friend were jumping rope in the garage. Katie’s rope got caught on the manual pull lever of the garage door. Katie instinctively ran to get out of the garage. Unfortunately, she didn’t make it in time and the garage door came crashing down on her. She was pinned face-down on the concrete.
“I was in the kitchen and my husband, Fernando, was in the backyard. We heard the most terrible scream. We both came running,” said Carrie. “Katie was screaming, ‘Papi, help me!’”
Fernando lifted the garage door off of her and then they saw all of the blood.
“There was so much blood. Her entire forehead was cut open from left to right exposing the bone. I ran inside to get some towels to press on her head. I’ll never forget her asking me, ‘Mommy, am I going to die?’”
Carrie and blood do not mix well. She was putting pressure on Katie’s head. Carrie lasted about 30 seconds and then she fainted. Fernando was in a state of shock and was paralyzed with fear. Their 12-year old daughter, Stephie, arrived on the scene and saw her sister, all the blood and her mom passed out. She quickly ran inside the house and dialed 9-1-1.
“I thank God for Stephie. She saved the day,” said Carrie. “If it hadn’t been for her quick action to call 9-1-1, I don’t know what we would have done.”
The ambulance arrived and took Katie to the emergency room with Fernando riding in the back with her. After Carrie came to and she got her bearings, a neighbor drove her to the hospital.
“When I arrived, they were running tests on Katie and I found Fernando pacing and panicking in her room. We held each other and desperately prayed to God to let Him spare our little girl,” said Carrie.
After what seemed like an eternity, the doctor came to talk to them. They learned that miraculously Katie did not have a skull fracture. The doctor said it was a miracle. The force of the garage door coming down was about 500 pounds. The doctor didn’t know how she survived.
Carrie knew how she survived. God had saved her life. He had given them a miracle.
May 12, 2010 is a day Carrie will never forget. It is a day the family now celebrates each year as they thank God for saving Katie’s life.
“That day I experienced how quickly everything in your life can change. I also experienced God’s hand in saving our daughter. I will be forever grateful for His gift and how that incident impacted my own faith and strengthened my relationship with God,” said Carrie.
Thank you, Maleia, for reading and for your thoughtful response. This was, without a question, a miracle given to us by God! Each time I look at Katie's scar on her forehead, I am reminded of that miracle and thank God for saving her. God is good!
Thank you for sharing, Maleia! Your reflection of this couldn't be more true. As a parent, I couldn't imagine watching this unfold. It is amazing to see God's hand in this whole thing.
I read your story yesterday afternoon with my 3 girls all running around the room near me. Holy moly, what a miracle that was. The words, “I can’t imagine” came to my mind. The distraction of motherhood quickly took me away from your story and the day moved on. It was in the stillness At 5:30 am this morning in which God brought it all back to me. (God is in the stillness, right?). I replayed in my mind your story. Then I really saw it. The horror. The blood. The screaming. Her pleading. Your begging and praying to God. I was sick to my stomach thinking of it all.
So much trauma from a sweet little girl jumping rope…