Please pray for our granddaughter, Sydney, who was in a tragic accident early Monday morning, March 2nd. She is a senior at the University of Chicago, studying in Ratan, Morocco with a group of students. While she was out jogging a Moroccan Military Vehicle struck her. Witnesses say the vehicle was speeding and ignored the crosswalk. When they struck her it threw her up on the windshield and she suffered a critical closed head injury.
She was taken to the Ratan Hospital. They said she was bleeding from the wound on her head and from her ears and nose. As the swelling increased along with the bleeding she became erratic and difficult to manage, so they put her under a Medically Induced Coma to keep her from further injuring herself.
She had some initial x-rays and surgery, then an MRI and it was discovered she had a brain bleed. They removed a small section of skull to allow for the swelling and were able to stop the bleed. She had another bleed and they again did surgery to stop that one. The last MRI showed 3 blood clots in 2 areas of her brain. She was transported out of Morocco to London by medical flight.
She has a breathing tube and is being fed by feeding tube. It has been a full week and they are starting to wean her from the medications that keep her in a comma. It is a delicate balance, to keep her from coughing, and causing more swelling to the brain and waking her up. So the process is slow. As she wakes up we will know more about her prognosis.
Insurance would only pay for one Medevac trip so we are searching for transport from London to the US. We are hoping Senior Senator Clair McCaskill will use her influence with the Moroccan Government to help with her care. As medical flights are about $100,000.
One of Sydney’s sorority sisters has family in London. They live within walking distance of the hospital and have offered their Guest House to my daughter and Bob for as long as they need it. Others have been feeding them and basically making sure they have no worries right now except to watch over Sydney.
Thank you for all your prayers, they mean so much to us. My Granddaughter Dani has set up a GoFundMe account for her sister. We know her medical and therapy needs will continue for some time and we are asking the community to do what they can to help.
To assist with Sydney’s medical expenses, go to http://www.gofundme.com/nvyv3o
This letter was shared on the Herald Facebook page by Susan Forrester, who lives in Success. She wrote about an incident involving her granddaughter.