As related by Laurel’s Aunt Linda:  Vayle jumped in the ambulance with her phone and shoes in her hands. I told her I would take care of Travis and the other kids and they shut the doors and left. The last thing Vayle said to me was to call Matt. So I called Matt. I told him Laurel had been taken by ambulance to Primary Children’s and that he needed to turn around and go straight there. I asked him if he wanted me to call Dad and have him meet him there for a blessing. He said yes. Next I called my Dad. I told him what happened and asked if he would go straight to Primary’s to help Matt give Laurel a blessing. He and my Mom immediately left for the hospital.

After Laurel and I left in the ambulance, Linda and my neighbors all formed a circle together and they prayed for Laurel.

As related by Laurel’s Aunt Linda:  After the prayer, they all told me to go to the hospital and they would take care of Travis. But all I really wanted to do was hug Travis for a minute. So I took him to my house and called [Laurel’s Aunt] Bethaney and told her what happened. She said she would meet me at my house so we could go up to the hospital together. I dropped Travis at Claudia’s house [Laurel’s neighbor] and Bethaney and I headed to the hospital.

Neighbors would spend the day waiting for any piece of information they could get about Laurel’s condition.  Many of them passed the time by making “Get Well” cards with their children.

I was later told that Kirk (the ER Nurse) had seen the paramedics carry Laurel out and had predicted that Laurel had blood on her brain – brain swelling.  I also remembered how the paramedics didn’t even hesitate to evaluate Laurel inside our home before loading her into the ambulance.  Kirk knew Laurel was in bad shape just from watching her move between the house and the ambulance.  What did they see that I didn’t see?

This question continues to haunt me.  Though I am aware that Laurel’s symptoms were atypical, a mother’s heart wants to believe she can fix anything.

At this point, it was nearly 9:30am.  I sat in the ambulance and watched them get Laurel situated.  I called my mother.  Crying, I said “everyone is okay… at the moment.”

Stating that “everyone is okay” is a family rule.  When you answer the phone and someone is crying on the other end, you need to always get that part out of the way first.

Then I told her, “Laurel and I are in an ambulance and that’s all I know.”  I gave her as much information as I could and asked her to please call my siblings and let them know what was going on.

My parents weren’t about to wait for additional information.  Laurel was headed to the hospital and that meant they were headed for Utah.  While calling my siblings, they threw their toothbrushes in the car and headed for Salt Lake.

 My sisters had the same reaction.  Rose was headed to her job in Boise when she got the call.  She immediately headed home to pack a bag.  Autumn, who takes care of my niece full-time (Olivia had been injured in April), started to plan ways to pack up medications, medical supplies and the wheel chair so she and her girls could get to Salt Lake.

Since my brothers live in Salt Lake, I knew they would be at the hospital quickly.  I also knew Linda would continue to inform Matt’s family, so support was on the way.

My sister, Autumn, called me as soon as she got off the phone with my mom.  Being a nurse, she wanted to hear exactly what was going on with Laurel.  I was crying as I described the morning so far.  I managed to give her a weak “Happy Birthday” in the middle of it all.

I was so surprised when the ambulance pulled over before leaving my neighborhood.  I couldn’t imagine what would be so important that we would need to pull over.  A new paramedic entered the back of the ambulance and he was introduced to me as their Captain.  The ambulance immediately took off again and I remember being fixated on the idea that we had waited for their Captain to arrive.  So I asked them what this meant… was Laurel’s condition so bad that they had called for reinforcements?

Of course that’s what it meant.

But to help keep me calm, they told me that their Captain was simply more experienced with these kinds of cases.  Luckily, my brain accepted that explanation without much more thought and I went back to watching my sweet Laurel as she lay unconscious on the stretcher.  Her breathing was still very labored.

We had already been to several doctors that week and Laurel had received a clean bill of health each time.  So, while I was still very worried and I was still crying, it just didn’t occur to me that this was something that couldn’t be fixed.

At one point I noticed the traffic outside the back window of the ambulance.  I could see all the cars pulling to the side of the road as we passed.  I realized that Laurel was going to be amazed that everyone had made such a fuss over her and she wasn’t even going to remember it.  I was already picturing her face when I explained to her what a scare she gave us all!!  So, as I sat in the ambulance, I had the video recorder running on my phone.  Laurel loved watching home videos and I didn’t want her to miss out on anything once she was all fixed up.  It wasn’t going to be the best video, since my focus was elsewhere, but I knew she’d get a kick out of it anyway, when she was feeling better.

I saw her react as they were trying to give her an IV.  Laurel always hated needles.  Her right arm moved over to touch her left arm where she was getting poked.  Did this mean she was aware of her surroundings?

“I’m right here Baby.  Momma’s right here.  We’re getting you to the hospital so they can fix you right up.  I’m right here Honey”

I asked the paramedics to please get the IV placed as soon as possible.  I knew that as soon as we reached the hospital and Laurel woke up, she would be just fine and I didn’t want her to have the stress associated with getting an IV.

The paramedics informed me that she was still having seizures during the ambulance ride.  But once again, there were no symptoms that I would have associated with a seizure.  I simply couldn’t understand what was going on.

When the ambulance arrived at Primary Children’s Hospital, we were whisked inside and put into the Trauma Room within the ER.  At this point, the Respiratory Specialist had placed a large oxygen mask on Laurel and was trying to get more oxygen into her little body.  Her IV had been successfully placed and she seemed to be resting comfortably, though there was still no response from her.  I sat and held her hand while countless doctors and nurses ran back and forth trying to find a cause for her symptoms.

As related by Laurel’s Aunt Linda: When we got to the hospital Matt was there as well as my Mom and Dad and Bishop Camilo. One of Matt and Vayle’s neighbors (Angelica) who works at the hospital was also there. Matt was telling everyone that Laurel had had five seizures in the ambulance and in the ER [3 in the ambulance, 2 in the ER]. He said she was having an x-ray at the moment and Vayle was with her. Not long after that the nurse came out and called Matt back to give them the results of the x-ray.