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Roachdale toddler recovering
RAMSEY, Ill. -- Children are resilient and adaptable.
One child, 18-month-old Sandra May Dawn Miles of Roachdale, is proving that beyond a shadow of a doubt.
The toddler -- known called "Sandy" by her family -- lost her left foot on May 19 as the result of a lawnmower accident.
Sandy is the daughter of Misty and Jeremy Miles. She has two brothers, 3-year-old Jeremiah and Blake Metcalf, 15.
"I'm just glad she's alive," Jeremy said. "It's a bum deal, but it could have been much worse."
Sandy and her mother were visiting Misty's parents in Ramsey, Ill. when the accident happened. Misty's father had been taking Sandy and her brother for rides on a lawnmower (the blade was disengaged). After giving the children rides, Misty's father saw Jeremiah run away from the lawnmower, and he thought he saw Sandy run after Jeremiah.
Misty's father engaged the lawnmower blade and backed up, striking Sandy.
"I wasn't there to see it, but (Sandy's) mom was," Jeremy said. "I was home in Roachdale. But Misty's having trouble because she saw it and that image is stuck in her head."
Sandy's family immediately loaded her into a van and drove her to a local hospital. Sandy was never admitted to that hospital -- instead, a medical helicopter that was originally sent in to pick up another patient was used to fly Sandy to St. Louis Children's Hospital in St. Louis, Mo.
"I thank God that helicopter was there," said Sandy's grandmother, May Daringer of Bainbridge. "She was in St. Louis in 15 minutes."
Sandy's foot was amputated at the ankle. Doctors estimated she would be hospitalized for a minimum of two weeks, but the spunky toddler went back to her grandparents' home in Ramsey three days after the accident.
"She's alert and she's trying to stand up," May said. "She's just such a sweet little girl. She's always laughing and smiling."
Jeremy agreed.
"She's doing really good," he said. "She's doing exceptionally well considering what happened. She was only in the hospital for three and a half days, and as soon as she got out and saw her cousins and her brother she wanted to play. She's really just been her normal self. She knows something's wrong, but she's in good spirits."
May said she has been overwhelmed with the concern the Roachdale and Bainbridge communities have shown for Sandy, but that she also felt the need to set the record straight on some points.
"My house phone and cell phone have just been ringing non-stop," she said. "People were telling me they'd heard Jeremy had hit (Sandy). Then I heard my husband had done it. People we're saying they heard (Sandy) had lost an arm."
Sandy and her parents are still in Ramsey. They have to travel to St. Louis -- a 90-minute to two-hour drive -- to take Sandy in for rechecks.
"We're hoping they'll be fitting her for a prosthetic foot son," May said. "But it looks like they're probably going to have to stay in Illinois for at least a month."
May said Misty and Jeremy are hoping they can arrange for Sandy to receive her follow-up care at Riley Hospital for children in Indianapolis, but that for now it looks like they will be in Illinois for a while.
Jeremy is laid off, and Misty recently lost her job. Sandy is covered by Medicaid, and although St. Louis Children's Hospital accepted her coverage, the Miles have had to pay for all Sandy's prescriptions out of pocket because pharmacies in Illinois cannot accept Indiana Medicaid.
"The hospital accepted her because it was a life and death situation," May said.
May has set up an account for Sandy and her family at Tri-County Bank. Those who wish to help the family out can donate to the account, which is under the name Virginia May Miles Daringer.
For May, being away from her son during this crisis has been extremely difficult.
"Sandy's his baby, but Jeremy's my baby," she said, tears welling in her eyes. "This has just really devastated the whole family. It's hard."
Jeremy said there were three other children at St. Louis Children's Hospital who had been in lawnmower accidents. If anything positive can come out of his family's tragedy, he hoped it would be that people would be very cautious when operating lawnmowers around children.
"It's kids," he said. "They're fast, and you never really know where they are. You can blink your eye and they're a mile away."