Friday June 26, 2009
As most of you know, camping is a big summer outdoor activity. It has been in my family for as long as I can remember. Instead of going on big vacations, we would pack up the car and go to the lake. As a small child, nothing was better than going fishing with my dad. Riding bikes around the campsites, and roasting marshmellows on the campfire. Now as an adult, nothing is more exciting than seeing that same happiness on the faces of my nieces' and nephew. That is why i'm sending this email. I'm sending you a warning, to please protect your children, friends children, nieces, nephews, siblings, and friends. Here is the Tomasi story.
It was the first time all of the Tomasi children have been camping together since my parents split in 1999. Mom had to be the most excited. Having all of her kids and their kids together, camping at the same lake we camped at all of our childhood. Michael and Kelly have two kids. Jake (3) and Allie (1). Sara and I (Julane) brought our three furry children, Chyenne (6), Toque (3), and Raleigh (9 months). Casey and Monica have Aurora (4) and their furry child Mazy (3).
We all got to camp Thursday night. Michael had a campfire going for us when we got there. We helped eachother set up, chit chatted a little bit, and went to sleep. We woke up in the morning so excited to spend time with eachother. Michael and Kelly brought their boat, Mom was so excited about her fishing liscence and couldnt wait to catch a big one. Jake, Aurora, Mom, Casey and Michael all went out that morning to catch some fish. Jake and Aurora said Mom almost caught a white sparkly one. Michael went along with the story saying he forgot his net.
Meanwhile, Kelly, Allie, Monica, Sara, I, and the furry dogs went down to the lake to throw some sticks.
When we all got back to camp, we started a classic game of Yatzee. By classic I mean we play it everytime we go camping. Laughing at eachother, making fun of eachother, eating all kinds of food that we shouldn't. We all decided that it was time to start planning for lunch. Sara and I knew what we were going to be eating, but had to use the bathroom before we started making lunch.
We were on our way back from the bathroom. We heard some loud voices coming from the direction of our camp. Then immediatly heard what we thought was Allie screaming. Sara and I took off running back to camp. We were only sure something was wrong when we saw Casey run to the camp neighbors trailer. We started running faster. As we rounded the corner, Monica told us what happened...
Allie fell in the fire.
I ran to Kelly and Allie. Kelly was holding her tight. It was a sight I did not expect to see. We didn't have a campfire even going. Here was this little girl, skin melting off her body, and we didn't even have a fire. Nothing made sense at that point. Nothing until I heard someone shout hot coals...
Casey drove Allie and Kelly to the Sheriff station inside the campground. Michael and I were quickly behind them. The Park Manager had a digital phone and was talking jibberish about a helicopter from La Porte. A little town about 6 miles away. I yelled at Michael and Kelly to get Allie to La Porte, and then yelled at the park manager to have a helicopter waiting for them. By the time Michael and Kelly got Allie to La Porte, the park manager still had not got a connection with 911. In La Porte, the firefighters came and called a helicopter for Allie. The nearest hospital was 65 miles away in Marysville. Michael and Kelly made the best decision they could, sending her on the helicopter vs making that drive to Marysville.
They immediatly gave little Allie morphine. MORPHINE??? She is only 1. And sent the helicopter on its way. She was being transported to UC Davis Med Center. Once at the emergency room, they found she had second and third degree burns. She has two small burns above her left eye, her left elbow is burnt pretty badly, her right hand and arm are burnt to her elbow, and she has a pretty bad burn on her back. She was taken to Shriners later on that day. We are still unsure at this point whether there will be skin grafts, but if there are, they will be on her right hand.
Allie is in good spirits. Sticking her tongue out and laughing. We know she is going to be just fine. She is still the sweet little baby we all know and love.
I wanted to share this story in hopes that you will never have to see what I saw. Through conversation with family members we have realized, that it is really important to make sure the fire is completly out when you are finished using it. This paticular fire was from the night before. It was no longer smoking, and if a random person walked by, they wouldn't have been able to tell a fire was still in there. Fluffy grey ash was all you could see.
We were all careful with watching the kids, but all it takes is a split second. I urge you, please, be careful. I don't know that I will ever be able to block the images I saw. I don't know what recovery is going to be like for my brother's family. I don't know about scaring, mental or physical. I don't know that anyone will ever be able to forget.
Allie is now recovering at Shriners Hospital. She is on the burn floor. She has some of the best doctors in the states making sure she has a speedy recovery. I don't know if any of you know how Shriner's Hospital works, I know I didn't, but it's free for the family. They run off donations only. Some of the best doctors in the world, in a place so comfortable, free. Its amazing what they do, i'm so grateful that Allie is where she is. One of the best children's hospitals in the states, with some of the best burn doctors in the world.
We learned another thing that day. Each one of us had a cell phone. Not one of us had a signal. Not one of us even thought about trying to use it to call 911 for help. But you can. Your digital signal switches to analog, and its clear as a bell.
Thank you for reading our story and please pass it along. We would like to send it as a warning, especially before this holiday weekend, in hopes that this sort of thing doesn't happen again.
Just one more thing, please keep the Tomasi family in your thoughts and prayers.
Thank you.
It was the first time all of the Tomasi children have been camping together since my parents split in 1999. Mom had to be the most excited. Having all of her kids and their kids together, camping at the same lake we camped at all of our childhood. Michael and Kelly have two kids. Jake (3) and Allie (1). Sara and I (Julane) brought our three furry children, Chyenne (6), Toque (3), and Raleigh (9 months). Casey and Monica have Aurora (4) and their furry child Mazy (3).
We all got to camp Thursday night. Michael had a campfire going for us when we got there. We helped eachother set up, chit chatted a little bit, and went to sleep. We woke up in the morning so excited to spend time with eachother. Michael and Kelly brought their boat, Mom was so excited about her fishing liscence and couldnt wait to catch a big one. Jake, Aurora, Mom, Casey and Michael all went out that morning to catch some fish. Jake and Aurora said Mom almost caught a white sparkly one. Michael went along with the story saying he forgot his net.
Meanwhile, Kelly, Allie, Monica, Sara, I, and the furry dogs went down to the lake to throw some sticks.
When we all got back to camp, we started a classic game of Yatzee. By classic I mean we play it everytime we go camping. Laughing at eachother, making fun of eachother, eating all kinds of food that we shouldn't. We all decided that it was time to start planning for lunch. Sara and I knew what we were going to be eating, but had to use the bathroom before we started making lunch.
We were on our way back from the bathroom. We heard some loud voices coming from the direction of our camp. Then immediatly heard what we thought was Allie screaming. Sara and I took off running back to camp. We were only sure something was wrong when we saw Casey run to the camp neighbors trailer. We started running faster. As we rounded the corner, Monica told us what happened...
Allie fell in the fire.
I ran to Kelly and Allie. Kelly was holding her tight. It was a sight I did not expect to see. We didn't have a campfire even going. Here was this little girl, skin melting off her body, and we didn't even have a fire. Nothing made sense at that point. Nothing until I heard someone shout hot coals...
Casey drove Allie and Kelly to the Sheriff station inside the campground. Michael and I were quickly behind them. The Park Manager had a digital phone and was talking jibberish about a helicopter from La Porte. A little town about 6 miles away. I yelled at Michael and Kelly to get Allie to La Porte, and then yelled at the park manager to have a helicopter waiting for them. By the time Michael and Kelly got Allie to La Porte, the park manager still had not got a connection with 911. In La Porte, the firefighters came and called a helicopter for Allie. The nearest hospital was 65 miles away in Marysville. Michael and Kelly made the best decision they could, sending her on the helicopter vs making that drive to Marysville.
They immediatly gave little Allie morphine. MORPHINE??? She is only 1. And sent the helicopter on its way. She was being transported to UC Davis Med Center. Once at the emergency room, they found she had second and third degree burns. She has two small burns above her left eye, her left elbow is burnt pretty badly, her right hand and arm are burnt to her elbow, and she has a pretty bad burn on her back. She was taken to Shriners later on that day. We are still unsure at this point whether there will be skin grafts, but if there are, they will be on her right hand.
Allie is in good spirits. Sticking her tongue out and laughing. We know she is going to be just fine. She is still the sweet little baby we all know and love.
I wanted to share this story in hopes that you will never have to see what I saw. Through conversation with family members we have realized, that it is really important to make sure the fire is completly out when you are finished using it. This paticular fire was from the night before. It was no longer smoking, and if a random person walked by, they wouldn't have been able to tell a fire was still in there. Fluffy grey ash was all you could see.
We were all careful with watching the kids, but all it takes is a split second. I urge you, please, be careful. I don't know that I will ever be able to block the images I saw. I don't know what recovery is going to be like for my brother's family. I don't know about scaring, mental or physical. I don't know that anyone will ever be able to forget.
Allie is now recovering at Shriners Hospital. She is on the burn floor. She has some of the best doctors in the states making sure she has a speedy recovery. I don't know if any of you know how Shriner's Hospital works, I know I didn't, but it's free for the family. They run off donations only. Some of the best doctors in the world, in a place so comfortable, free. Its amazing what they do, i'm so grateful that Allie is where she is. One of the best children's hospitals in the states, with some of the best burn doctors in the world.
We learned another thing that day. Each one of us had a cell phone. Not one of us had a signal. Not one of us even thought about trying to use it to call 911 for help. But you can. Your digital signal switches to analog, and its clear as a bell.
Thank you for reading our story and please pass it along. We would like to send it as a warning, especially before this holiday weekend, in hopes that this sort of thing doesn't happen again.
Just one more thing, please keep the Tomasi family in your thoughts and prayers.
Thank you.