Sapphire's crazy day

Sapphire was doing what a lot of Kiwi kids love to do.

She was climbing a tree. Unfortunately for Sapphire, the branch she stood on snapped. Three metres above the ground, Sapphire fell and landed heavily on her head and neck. Luckily the spritely girl from Wellsford wasn’t knocked out by the impact, but she did suffer some concussion. Best friend Kayleigh, not far away, ran to Sapphire’s side and asked if she was OK.

Sapphire says she thought it was all a dream. “It was like I was seeing it all in slow motion,” she says, “Like I was watching a video.”

Sapphire patiently lay under the tree waiting for help to come. Not easy to do when you’re 10 years old and active! When Sapphire heard the Westpac Rescue Helicopter was coming she said she felt happy, because she knew they would “get her to hospital fast.” As she lay under the tree, she watched the Westpac Rescue Helicopter fly overhead.

It took the rescue crew just 22 minutes to get to Sapphire. Sapphire sported a big welt on the left hand side of her forehead, a laceration inside her mouth and a swollen top left lip, but thankfully she was alert, in good colour and could move all her limbs. Experiencing pain in her right shoulder and spine, she was fitted with a c-spine to help stabilise her neck.

It took just 20 minutes from take off to transport Sapphire to Starship Childrens Hospital. Sapphire is now on the mend. She still wears a neck brace, to enable two torn ligaments in her neck to heal, but thankfully, there are no fractures to her neck.

A girl of few words but with the biggest smile, Sapphire, says “Thank You” to all the donors who helped her that day.