Kelly Clarkson

We had a scary incident at the Kelly Clarkson concert last week.  We honestly thought we were going to loose Scarlett. 

Here’s what happened… 

We were all having so much fun at the concert so we stayed longer than we had planned.  We tried leaving earlier (when it was still light out) but Scarlett was having the time of her life so we just couldn’t leave. The lights, the sounds and the energy from the crowd were all so magical to her.  We were dancing and singing along to all of Kelly’s songs. It was truly special.  

The incident happened as we were leaving.  We started to push Scarlett’s wheelchair up a dark steep hill and that’s when I noticed her O2 monitor flashing.  Her O2 was dropping.  We couldn’t see Scarlett’s face (it was dark on the hill).  We couldn’t hear (the music was loud).  I screamed for help because I couldn’t see.  Suddenly people appeared with flashlights.  I started “working” on her and her O2 still wasn’t coming up. Her O2 was now down in the 30’s.  I yelled for someone to call 911.  

So many horrible thoughts were racing through my mind…  I was terrified.  I continued to work on her and then, all of a sudden, I was able to clear her airway. She had a massive thick mucus plug occluding her airway.  She surprisingly recovered quickly once I removed the plug.  The paramedics arrived at this point but there really wasn’t anything they could help us with (except transport us to the hospital if needed).  Scarlett seemed stable enough to go home so that’s where we went.  Her bedroom is like a mini ICU and she has everything she needs there.

I think the heat, humidity and loud vibrating music caused the plug.  I’m so thankful that we trached Scarlett two-years-ago.  The trach allowed us to directly access her airway to remove that massive plug.

We had the best time, as a family, watching Kelly perform.  We’re trying to only remember the special memories from that night and not what SMA tried to take away.  Even in the good times SMA is there trying to steal our sunshine.