Ayla's story

In August 2021, just before her 9th birthday, Ayla was playing at a friend’s house and fell out of second story window headfirst onto a brick path below. She was rushed to PCH Emergency Department, with serious injuries from the fall – a broken jaw and wrist, lacerations to her liver, puncture wounds to her face, swelling of the brain and loss of vision.

It's been a difficult recovery journey for Ayla, seeing a range of specialists at PCH. But her mum and dad, Kathryn and Beau, credit PCH staff for being helpful and supportive for both Ayla and her family, saying that “PCH couldn’t do enough to help our daughter during her initial stay and all of her ongoing surgeries and appointments since.”

Hospitals can be a scary and painful place, but our staff are well equipped to make the experience as easy as possible. One of the things Ayla was fearful of, was the antibiotic injections. Kathryn and Beau said, “…the nurses were amazing at finding ways to inject her slowly to reduce the sting and her anxiety. They were so accommodating when she was on bedrest, finding fun ways to keep her spirits up and letting a couple friends visit and sit in bed with her.”

Having fun was also a challenge with Ayla’s broken wrist. “She struggled to draw and write which became frustrating for her. The volunteers would sit with her and devote so much time to making her feel comfortable and excited about the different activities. This time was so helpful for us as parents. We were so tired, scared, and overwhelmed and to have Ayla entertained by such caring staff allowed us to just sit and decompress while we watched her smile.” said Kathryn and Beau.

Kathryn and Beau credit the nursing staff for not only looking after Ayla, but also making sure that she had comfortable places to sleep, helped with parking passes, meals and all the things that they didn’t have the capacity to think about at the time.

They have both been impressed by Ayla’s patience and strength after such a traumatic injury. “She has fought through each setback with so much determination and acceptance. She inspires us every day to keep moving forward and stay positive.”