East Idaho News
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'It's a miracle.' Woman who fell into Yellowstone hot spring released from hospital after 4 months
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February 4, 2022
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16:53Now Playing#EastIdahoNews
IDAHO FALLS — A woman who was severely burned after falling into a thermal feature while trying to save her dog has been released from the hospital.
Laiha Slayton, 21, has undergone 18 surgeries since being admitted to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center four months ago following the accident at Yellowstone National Park. She was burned from the chest down and her palms “were completely gone,” according to Kami Slayton, Laiha’s sister.
“A lot of people didn’t think she’d survive, let alone be where she is now,” Kami tells EastIdahoNews.com this week. “She’s doing amazing. It’s a miracle.”
Laiha was moving from Washington to Ohio in early October with her father, Woodrow, and two Shih Tzu dogs, Chevy and Rusty. They had never been to Yellowstone so detoured to the park and stopped near Madison Junction. As Laiha went to grab the dogs’ leashes, they jumped out of the car and waited at her feet.
A geyser from a nearby stream splashed hot water on Rusty’s paw and he took off running into Maiden’s Grave Spring near the Firehole River. Laiha ran after her pet and ended up in the thermal feature where the water temperature is around 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
Woodrow pulled his daughter and the dog from the spring and rushed them, along with Chevy (who was not injured), to West Yellowstone, Montana.
“I just remember hearing Rusty yelping a lot and it makes me sad,” Laiha recalls. “I was in the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my life and I don’t think I can really compare it to anything. We had to drive 16 miles because there was no service to call 911. I was awake for all of that and (when we got to the ambulance), I kept asking them to put me to sleep.”
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Laiha was flown to the EIRMC in critical condition and placed in a medically induced coma. She had second-degree burns over 70% of her body and third-degree burns covering 20%, according to Kamilla.
A long road of recovery
The Burn Center at EIRMC opened three years ago and over 100 critically injured patients were treated in 2021.
“We have a dedicated burn ER room where we can keep patients warm, resituate them, manage pain and sedate them if needed,” says Dr. Tait Olaveson, EIRMC’s Burn Director. “We get patients from all over the region – Montana, Boise, Wyoming, Oregon, Washington and even patients further away.”
Laiha’s mother, Ladonna Levine, flew to Idaho from Ohio to be with her daughter and husband. Doctors worked to remove dead skin and tissue from Laiha’s body and her family prayed her condition would improve.
“With any burn, the peak of death would be from the burn itself and then 2-3 weeks later, the second peak is caused by infection because the patient has no immune system,” Olaveson says. “Sometimes patients are sedated and on a ventilator for a month, month and a half in the ICU as we monitor them for any sort of infection.”
Laiha doesn’t remember waking up from the coma but her mom has shown her video of the moment. Laiha couldn’t really talk and was on high doses of pain medication. She began intense therapy to heal her body and train her skin to feel again.
The burn center has a dedicated operating room and patients use special showerheads to reduce pain. Laiha worked closely with her doctors and at least one of her parents has been by her side every day for the past four months.
Read the rest of the story here
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