A young Rogers girl seriously injured in a sledding accident is making great progress in her recovery. That's thanks to emergency crews working together during winter weather to get the girl the care she needed.
A fun day in the snow turned into a tragic winter ride for 7 year old Kadynce Amaya.
"She kept crying that her head hurt, and then she got nauseous," said Kadynce's mom, Kristina Courtney. "I could not find a bump anywhere on her head, and that made me really concerned. That's when I decided to take her to the emergency room."
When Kadynce showed up at Mercy Hospital Northwest Arkansas in Rogers on February 4, a scan of her brain showed bleeding.
"That's something we do not treat here, and it needed an immediate transfer," said Mendy Corter, a Physician Assistant of Emergency Medicine at Mercy.
Winter weather made a ride in a medical helicopter too dangerous, and no ground crews were available.
"Your head just fills with all of these possibilities that are scary," said Kadynce's father, Alex Amaya.
The staff at Mercy did not give up.
"We called five or six different places, nobody could fly out and nobody could get anyone to drive," said Corter.
An EMS crew from Green Forest, 60 miles away from Rogers, picked Kadynce up and transported her to Mercy's children's hospital in Springfield, Missouri.
"They did not think twice about taking her," Courtney said. "According to the nurses, EMT Jeff Webb and Paramedic Dillon Harper took the call and said they would take her anywhere she needed to go."
Kadynce spent three days at Mercy Kids' pediatric intensive care unit, but did not have brain surgery.
"I was really nervous when they said that I needed to have to have brain surgery," Kadynce said. "I was very happy when they told me I did not have to have get it done."
Parents, Christina and Alex, said they are thankful for the emergency crews that helped get their daughter the care she needed.
"We are super blessed, it was so great the way it all turned out," said Amaya.
Kadynce said she is making great progress in her recovery, and is looking forward to getting back to doing the activities she loves most.
"I can't wait until I can ride my bike and play basketball again, because that's what I like to do," she said.
Kadynce can not participate in physical activities for a few months. Her parents said a recent check-up showed she is expected to make a full recovery.