I just say. Killer this is really,
really hard. And I Mommy wishes
I could switch with you.
Mommy would do anything. To fix you.
Holly Schmidt's 15 year old daughter
Kayla is in a Utah hospital right
now with a severe spinal cord injury.
On January 6, she was in a
terrible car crash right down the
street from their home in Star.
Kayla was driving with her sister,
17 year old Emily,
when they hit a construction excavator
parked in the right hand lane of that road.
The girls couldn't see it because
of the thick fog that night.
This past month has been
heartbreaking for the Schmidt family,
but the community, the community of Star.
Has embraced them and is helping
them carry them through all of this.
This morning we share Kaylan's
journey in our sevens hero.
I got the call from my husband
on January 6th. The nurse,
Holly Schmidt, had just started her
shift at the Saint Luke's ER in Nampa
and he said you got to come home now.
And I said what? What? He said
the girls were in an accident and
they can't get killed out of the car.
Tolly's teenage daughters,
15 year old Kayla and 17 year old Emily.
We're going out to eat that foggy night.
Emily was driving and didn't see an
excavator parked near their home in Star.
She crashed right into it.
Kayla had to be extracted and
was rushed to Saint Alphonsus.
The first question I asked was,
is she moving? She moving her legs?
Is she moving her arms?
She awake. I just prayed.
I'd literally just put my head
down and I just prayed that night.
Word of the accident spread quickly
through the small town of Starr.
When there's something that happens,
everybody in this town really
comes together to help others out.
Stars
Mayor Trevor Chadwick says plans were
quickly made for a prayer vigil for Kayla.
The accident happened Saturday,
Friday night,
and that vigil was on Sunday night.
And there was, I don't know,
five, 600 people or so there.
And everybody was there to pray for,
for Kayla and the Smith family.
The community came together and they put
these pray for Kayla bracelets together.
There was a meal train that was done
right and the meal train to feed this
family all the way through February.
I mean, that's incredible for
all these people to jump on board
a go fund me was. Also organized.
So many people wanted to help.
Over $90,000 donated so far.
I look at it and I'm just like. It it's
like I can't believe it. Thank you. Hi.
How you doing?
Holly kept the community updated
on Kayla on social media, posting
videos and photos from the hospital.
Her attitude is nothing short of inspiring.
I have my mind. Is it my voice it.
I would be scared if I didn't have
those things, and even if I never
walked again or be able to move again.
There's so many advancements in technology.
Tell me you got this.
If anybody can do it, it's you.
And we don't know what God's
going to plan for you.
We don't know yet.
We have to trust him, right?
After two weeks at Saint Alphonsus, they did
all they could for her.
She was ready to be transferred to,
you know, a different level of care.
You know, inpatient rehab.
Kayla was transported by air
to the University of Utah,
her injuries just devastating.
We didn't know how you know,
how severe this really was until
we got her to Utah. To be honest,
right now Kayla is paralyzed from
her shoulders down. She does have
some movement in one of her hands.
It's now that journey.
Begins with trying to see how much
sensation and movement that she
can achieve with their therapies.
Big Sister and best friend,
Emily visits as often as she
can to lift kaylan's spirits.
She is devastated and still
processing what happened that night.
They're so close and I'm just as
concerned about Emily as I am for Kayla.
I'm on high alert with her. She's got a lot.
Kayla also gets visits from
her Big Brother Alex and her
little Brother, 8 year old Noah.
He's very protective of her.
He wants to be right there
with her and he holds her hand
each day. Kayla is working so hard to get
more movement and when she feels defeated,
square myself off in front of her wheelchair
and she won't want to look at me.
And I'll say Kayla, we are just going
to do this minute by minute today.
And when you want to quit,
I'm going to be here to help you go forward.
Your mommy and your daddy are going to
do everything to give you the best life.
What's carrying this family through
is their faith and the amazing
support from the community.
The bracelets, car decals,
even painted rocks.
I read her every card, I read her
every message, I read her every text.
Mayor Chadwick says when she's ready,
the community of star will
welcome Kayla with open arms.
It's a big thing to make certain
that we all continue to pray for
her and and do what we can to
lift that family up in spirits.
The Schmidt family is so
grateful for everything.
It makes me feel like.
Like Kayla is gonna be.
She's going to be embraced 70.
And just this week,
Kayla started recording a video blog
of her experiences at the hospital.
She says there are good days
and there are hard days and she
wants to document all of it.
But one thing she loves,
Justin is getting mail to lift
her spirits and you can see her
address on your screen right now
at that Salt Lake City Hospital.
We will put this on the website as well
for you if you want to send her a letter,
a card, a gift card,
maybe a care package,
something to help her get through.
We also have a link to
the families go fund me.
And the meal train,
they say they are so humbled
by that go fund me because they
just have no clue how much all
of their expenses are going to
be when they finally adapt their
home and bring Kayla home.
So they have a lot to consider in the future,
but we will certainly keep you
updated on her progress and that's
the story of this community coming
together to help folks in need.