Larson's Cause

Sage

On the evening of November 7, 2018, Sage was involved in a motor vehicle accident where she sustained multiple injuries. Sage was found by a local long-time Smithville resident who happened to be on the rural gravel road where the accident occurred. Sage was coherent enough to tell the man her mom’s phone number. He called 911, and when the emergency response teams arrived they transported her to Children’s Mercy Trauma Center. Sage’s mom was informed to meet Sage at Children’s Mercy as she had life threatening injuries.

Sage was taken for a CT scan to determine the level of brain trauma. Sage was awake, but was repeating herself and didn’t know what was going on. Shortly after that 2 operating teams coordinated to perform 2 surgeries at once. One on her face and one on her left knee. Both lacerations were to the bone. Her face required 120 stitches, and was a lengthy surgery. The surgeon who repaired her knee came back the next morning with a fresh operating team. Due to so much blood loss she received a blood transfusion. Her femur was broken in half, and a rod was placed down the middle of the femur to connect those 2 pieces and then secured with 2 screws.

Sage was in the hospital for little over a week, undergoing occupational and physical therapy to learn how to walk. When finally released from the hospital there were multiple weekly follow up Dr. Appointments for months. Sage went from a wheelchair, to a walker, to using crutches fairly quickly. She was finally released from the brain trauma team to return to school. She still experiences sensitivity to lights and gets headaches from the concussion. She has undergone 3 scar corrective surgeries on her face to date, and more to be expected in her future.

The support of Larson’s Cause and the Smithville community has made this life-altering experience a little more financially bearable. The multiple lost days of work, gas money, food, co-pays all add up. We are grateful and humbled by the support.