Craziness

I woke up today planning on taking Kenadie's pictures at the Salt Lake Temple grounds if the weather was good enough. We lucked out and the rain held off for a little while so I told her to get in the shower and we would chance it. I didn't need Chris to go because Kenadie doesn't need anyone to make silly faces at her to get her to smile and the little girls would probably have been a distraction, so it was just going to be her and I. As I was thinking about exactly where on the grounds to go, the thought came to me that I should call my mom to see if she wanted to go. Why? Like I said, I didn't really need help. But, I decided to call anyway to see if my mom even wanted to go. She said she had a lot to do to get ready for the family dinner and couldn't go. I was fine with that, so we hung up and I started to get ready. Not two minutes went by before my mom called back to ask what time we were going and said to let her know when we were leaving and she would come with us. I didn't question why she had changed her mind, I was just happy to have her come along with us.

We waited until around 1pm to leave because there was a regional conference in the Conference Center that got out at noon and I wanted to be able to park and avoid too much traffic. We parked close to the temple and walked to the grounds. I didn't know this, but on Sundays the area directly around the temple is locked. I was disappointed, so I thought we would try the big fountain between the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and the Church Office Building. I looked in the direction of the fountain and noticed that it wasn't on. I was again disappointed and then I remembered the smaller fountain between the temple and the Visitor's Center. It's not my most favorite place for pictures, but it was going to have to do for now. There were only a few people there which was nice because we wouldn't have too many people in the background of the photos. I helped Kenadie sit on the bench around the fountain and I started taking her picture in a few different poses and then helped her to stand on the bench to do a different shot. When we were finished, I helped her down and then turned to talk to my mom about where I wanted to go next. As I was talking I heard a commotion and then a loud noise that I can't really describe. It was almost like a bang and a thud put together. I turned around and there was an older woman laying on the ground on a wide ramp that leads down into the fountain area. Her walker (not the metal kind, but the black ones that also have a seat attached to them) was on its side and there were a couple of older people standing around her. (I later learned that her walker started going too fast for her, she couldn't keep up and it caused her to fall.) We watched for a few seconds to see if she was going to get up and then the two men tried to help her up but set her back down. I started to run over when I saw that they were struggling to lift her because I figured I could put my arms under her armpits and help (I used to help my mom up that way after her shoulder surgeries). As soon as I got to her I could see why they put her back down: a stream of blood was running down the ramp towards me. I felt my pocket for my phone to dial 911 and then remembered I had stuck it in my camera case which was back by my mom and Kenadie. Someone else said "I got it" and called the paramedics. I ran back to my mom and Kenadie telling them that the woman was bleeding and tried to think of something I could use to stop it. Then I remembered the Visitor's Center had bathrooms, so I ran to the nearest door. It said "Exit Only" and was locked. Stupid doors! Didn't they know I needed to get in?! I ran around the side to the entrance, passed the sister missionaries and found the bathroom. I think I may have been in that building once in my life but somehow I ran straight to it. When I first ran in, I only saw the hand dryer but was relieved to see the paper towel dispenser next to it. I started pulling but they were perforated and only came out one at a time. Stupid machine! Didn't it know I needed something fast?! The side has a little dial on it that you can turn to get more to come out and I've never spun anything so fast in my life! After getting a huge wad of paper towels, I ran out the same "Exit Only" door that wouldn't let me INside, passed my mom and Kenadie (again) and was wadding up the towels as I ran. When I got back to the woman, there was another young woman, probably in her 20's, who had stabilized her head. The stream of blood had gotten much longer and thicker and I knew it needed to be stopped. I got down on my knees and straddled the stream of blood. I told the girl I wanted to apply pressure to the wound so I got down as close to the ground as I could and tried to see where it was coming from. I couldn't see a whole lot, so I asked the girl to move the woman's head a little. She tilted it a little to the side and then I saw it: her skull through a big hole about the size of a fifty cent piece. Her hair was sopping wet with blood and I put my wad of paper towels against the hole in an attempt to stop the bleeding. I held the towels with one hand and helped stabilize her head with the other. At this point temple security finally made it over and one of them called the paramedics, which I thought had already been done, but I don't know what happened to the woman who said "I got it". Maybe the security guy was just making sure that they were called. As he was telling the 911 operator where we were, the young woman and I started talking to the lady. She told us her name and that she had family visiting in town. She asked if we were in the medical field. The girl was first-aid certified and I was an EMT once upon a long time ago. (I never actually worked as an EMT, just passed the class and got certified, but Chris and I were engaged shortly after so my priorities were elsewhere.) She actually asked the same question a few minutes later so I'm pretty sure she had a concussion. The girl took her vitals and we asked her if she hurt anywhere else, to which she said no. Thank goodness! She was cold from laying on the cement so someone had covered her with a few jackets.

It seemed like the paramedics were taking forever! But I guess it always feels that way in an emergency situation. When they finally arrived, the girl gave them all the information we had gathered in the last several minutes and then they put a neck brace on her while I continued to apply pressure to her wound. After another minute or so one of the paramedics told me I could move, so I let him take over. I tried so hard the whole time to not get any blood on me but somehow I got a little on my finger. One of the temple security guys came over to get my name and phone number to put in the report, so I asked him if he had anything I could wipe my hand with and he gave me one of those little alcohol wipes you find in first-aid kits. I watched for another minute or so wanting to make sure she was really okay and my legs were shaking from kneeling on them for so long. I noticed that my mom and Kenadie had come closer at this point and then we watched them wheel the woman away on the stretcher. Kenadie was freezing so we went inside the visitor's center to warm up and then decided to take a few more pictures before we went home.

So many things fell into place today for us to be there at the right time to help this poor woman. I'm glad I listened to that voice in my head telling me to ask my mom to come with us. Otherwise I wouldn't have been able to help because I couldn't leave Kenadie alone. I'm glad that the temple grounds were closed and the fountain was off, causing us to go somewhere else.

I don't know what the final outcome was for her and I probably never will. The only thing I do know is that the Lord was watching over her.