Our world changed July 11, 2011, our youngest daughter was in a motor vehicle accident west of our hometown of Lewistown Montana. When the sheriff called we knew it was bad. We went to the hospital and saw Kenzie for a moment, the attending doctor told us she would needed to be airlifted to a trama center, two hours away. He met us in the waiting room and told us not to expect her to live through the helicopter ride. After frantic calls to family and friends we were on our way to the trauma center in Great Falls Montana. When we walked in the emergency room doors we were met by a pastor, he took us to a small room, where we waited for the team to give us any news. Kenz broke every bone in her face, severe laceration to the right side of her face, lacerations to her scalp, left femur was broke, collapsed right lung and her left thigh was "hamburger". Deep wounds covered her body from barbed wire. When the team briefed us they said she has a traumatic brain injury and she went through the barb wire fence. This was the beginning of a nightmare we would never wake up from.
We are very lucky to be surrounded by wonderful family and friends. Everyone jumped in right away to help. The social worker at the hospital was very helpful and arranged for a rv spot and our friends rallied and found us a camper to live in. The staff in ICU was awesome too. Friends in Lewistown set up an account at the credit union, for people to donate to. At this time we did not know how crucial that would be in Kenzie’s recovery. We were told we had three choices while she was in ICU, take her home, take her to a nursing home or take her to hospice. We decided we were taking her home, the road will be long and hard, but she is sixteen and science is a wonderful when paired with the support and dedication of strong family. When she was moved from ICU to the pediatric floor we started the transition to a nursing home until we could get our house in order for her. While during a routine cat scan they discovered that her catroided artery was smashed, this only could be repaired in Seattle Washington, again we were asked to make the decision, Randy flew to Seattle with Kenz and Kayla, my other daughter, and I took a commercial flight the next morning. We were expecting to stay three days and we were there ten. The surgeons there thought the swelling in her brain put her at more risk so they put a shunt in to drain the fluid, two shunts and an adjustment later, we headed back to Montana. Again, we started to prepare to bring her home. Our support group made sure our bills were paid and animals taken care of. This allowed both of us to be there for Kenzie. The process of bringing her home was long and we had alot of obstacles to over come. Our house had molded while we were gone as we had a flood in June and were not able to finish the clean up when the accident happened, the door way would be impossible to accommodate her equipment. We had such awesome support they helped us find acamper to live in while Kenz lived in an extended care center. We moved in September 14th and were able to move to a new house March 27th. I'm not sure where we would be without the support of so many. Thanks to the people donating, whether it was time, money, energy hope or a prayer, we have our beautiful child at home in an environment she can blossom in. All of you have touched us in a special way that will effect our family for years to come. Please buckle up, Randy and Soni Zarn
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