In a miraculous story of survival and recovery, a 27-year-old Maryland woman seriously injured in the mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas earlier this month has woken up from a coma and begun taking small steps to and from her hospital bed.
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Tina Frost was attending the country music concert on October 1 with her boyfriend when gunman Stephen Paddock opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino across the street. She was shot in the head and rushed to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center in Las Vegas, where she has remained in critical condition.
A GoFundMe page was set up in an effort to help defray medical costs, and it is there that Frost’s mother, Mary Watson Moreland, has been sharing updates on her daughter’s recovery. A day after the shooting, Moreland wrote that doctor’s were forced to remove Frost’s right eye because that is where the bullet was lodged. They do expect her to retain sight in her left eye.
Additionally, she said that they “took out a bone from her forehead to allow the brain room to swell,” and the bone “will stay out for a few months.” At the time, Frost was in “critically stable” condition. She was in a coma and unable to breathe on her own, and the family was anxiously waiting to see how she would respond to stimulation in the coming days because that would shed light on the extent of the brain damage suffered.
Thus far, Frost’s campaign has raised some $540,000, far surpassing the initial $50,000 goal. On Thursday, Moreland once again took to GoFundMe to share an inspiring update on her daughter’s condition.
“Tina is continuing to amaze us,” she wrote on October 12. “Yesterday, she sat in the recliner for 6 hours and was breathing on her own for 2 hours. We also continued to brush her hair out – it’s now in two nice, neat braids!”
On Friday, Frost made even more progress—waking up for the first time on her own and opening her left eye to look around. She even got up from her hospital bed with the help of nurses. Moreland shared:
Today has also been a big day for our TT – she is now waking up! She opens her left eye just a lil and looks all around the room at us, taps her feet whenever music is playing, continues to squeeze our hands, and even gives Austin a thumbs up when asked. She sometimes taps to music and also took her first steps today with the assistance of the nurses – 3 steps to the chair and 3 steps back to the bed. She’s obviously anxious to get her wobble back on. She also breathed on her own for a full 6 hours! We are so proud of our Tina, and everyone is amazed at every single movement she makes. EY San Diego sent a colorful RARE Science teddy bear that she hugs and pats on the back to show us she likes him :). The Jabbawockeez (won America’s Best Dance Crew) paid her a special visit today in her room and they also put on a little show for the hospital.
Doctors are now beginning to discuss how to best manage Frost’s care going forward. She will likely be moved to and from different medical facilities in the weeks and months ahead to ensure she is getting the proper care for her various injuries. Moreland said that the neurosurgeon caring for her daughter “is making sure that the facility Tina will be at next meets all the requirements she will need, both short term and long term and all the surgeries she will have over who knows how long.”
While Moreland and her family know Frost has a long road ahead of her, they are grateful for the progress she has made these last two weeks and humbled by the prayers and support they continue to receive from complete strangers.
“The doctors have been talking about Tina’s next steps and are discussing other hospitals that will have all the specialists she’ll need during her long road to recovery,” she said. “We’ll know more soon about where we will be next. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers!”
(H/T: Fox News)