Erika Amelunxen only remembers seeing her daughter fall out the window and hearing the father of two-year-old Selena scream. The next moment, Amelunxen and Selena's dad, Darcy Kidd, were scrambling down the stairs in their attempts to reach the injured toddler as quickly as possible.
In the realization of what family friend Laura McDonald called every parent's worst nightmare, Selena had scrambled across a bed to be next to her half-sister and pushed against the screen of a bedroom window in Kidd's unit in the Aqua townhome development on Sunday, April 22. When the screen gave way, little Selena plummeted head first onto a concrete patio two stories below.
Selena, who suffered a fractured skull, was rushed by ambulance to Nexen Beach, from which she was taken by helicopter to B.C. Children's Hospital. She underwent emergency surgery that same day to remove a blood clot that had caused fluid to build up pressure in her brain.
According to both Amelunxen and McDonald, not long after the surgery doctors at Children's Hospital began referring to little Selena as the Miracle Girl.
On Thursday (April 26), little Selena had been moved from critical care to the neurology ward at Children's. By Friday (April 27), she was conscious most of the time, speaking in short phrases and moving around, her mother said.
She's been in her wheelchair and asking to be in it. She's a bit mobile and wanting to get out, said Amelunxen, adding that Selena's mobility was still limited by an IV tube in her leg.
They're still doing testing, McDonald said. She is saying words here and there, but with any kind of head injury you have to see how things progress day to day, and they're really not sure about any kind of long-term effects from this.
They're saying that it's amazing that she's alive. She didn't break any bones, except for fracturing her skull.
Added Selena's mother, It seems like every day is just getting better. Every day she just keeps improving, and I'm hopeful that it's not going to be a long road.
In any case, members of the family will likely be staying near Children's for the next few weeks, monitoring Selena's progress, McDonald said. To help pay for their food and travel expenses, friends have set up a trust fund for the family at Squamish Savings, where McDonald serves as assistant branch manager.
Said McDonald, When you're in that kind of situation it just helps to not have to worry about those sorts of costs, and the sooner we can bring Selena home, the better.
Donations can be made to Branch 81, account No. 380998, in the name of Selena Amelunxen. Friends have also set up a Facebook page, Support for Selena. Those who visit the page will find the address of Selena's grandmother, to whom they can send donation cheques.
