Pneumothorax
At age 14, April and her friend, Alicia, were out riding four-wheelers when they each went down a cliff and were thrown off the vehicles. April immediately went to her friend’s rescue. “We tried to hit reverse before going over but it didn’t have reverse on this particular four-wheeler. I went over first and tried to yell for Alicia to just jump off, but she didn’t hear me. When I was able to get up I could hear her crying and the four-wheeler was on top of her. I had a really bad headache but she said her wrist and shoulder hurt. So, I pulled the four-wheeler off her and rode her to the house to call her mom.” During this time, April was mostly focused on her friend’s condition, but the headache that she was experiencing was due to her trouble breathing. Her mom insisted that she be examined. The doctors did X-rays and found a spot on her lungs and that she was suffering from a concussion. They rushed her to Children’s Hospital by car and there she was diagnosed with a pneumothorax, or hole in her lungs, which happened during her fall. Due to April’s age they said it would eventually heal own its own. “We’re so thankful that Children’s was as close as it was. We live in Midland City and it took three hours to get there, but without Children’s we don’t know what we would have done. I just remember how nice everyone was and how cheerful the Hospital was. The art on the walls was really colorful and pretty and the people were really nice to us.” Today, April is a vibrant 16-year-old who loves horse-back riding and horse training. She also plays softball and has no problems or side-effects as a result of her accident. “If I over do it I might get a headache,” she says, “But that’s it. My main thing is breaking and training horses.”
