Beatrice R is the youngest of four siblings and enjoys joining her siblings on their adventures. Her parents, Kathryn and Jeff, also have had adventures of their own, moving from the United States to Canada in 2010 and becoming dual citizens. Together, the family enjoy many different activities, sports and spending time at their cottage in Parry Sound. The biggest adventure Beatrice and her family weren’t ready for was a transport with Ornge to SickKids.
 
It was September 1, 2023, when Kathryn and Jeff brought the family to the cottage for the long weekend. The children had taken one of the golf carts for a short ride around the property. Beatrice, without warning, decided to jump off the moving golf cart. When she did, she hit her head on the ground and began to cry. Her eldest sister jumped into action and carried Beatrice back to the cottage to get help.

“Her sister picked her up, she was still conscious at the time, but the back of her head was bleeding, and her sister was able to bring her to the cottage front door, she was carrying her in her arms,” said Kathryn. “I was able to get her into the shower to figure out exactly what was happening with her head, and it was at that time she started to lose consciousness. At that point, we knew she needed to get to the hospital.”
 
Once Beatrice lost consciousness, Kathryn called 911, and she and her husband loaded Beatrice into the car and began to drive her to the local hospital. However, halfway through the drive, Beatrice began to have a seizure. The family was forced to pull over on the side of the highway, where they met the ambulance.  Kathryn jumped into the ambulance to accompany her daughter the rest of the way. Once at the hospital, Beatrice was in and out of consciousness. This was making it difficult for clinical staff to administer medication and anesthesia.
 
“The doctor asked us to leave, so my husband and I left Beatrice in the emergency department and, we went into a family room where the doctor gave us the choice of doing the CT scan and the anesthesia,” said Kathryn. “They were able to do the CT scan, but not give her anesthesia. She was screaming and inconsolable the whole time, so we could kind of tell when she was in and out of consciousness and when she was awake.”
 
Kathryn and Jeff were then sent to the family waiting room for the results of Beatrice’s CT scan. Years prior, Kathryn and Jeff received devastating news about their nephew. Kathryn said it was hard not to have that previous traumatic incident influence what was currently happening to their child.
 
“My nephew actually died as a six-year-old in that hospital, so having a seven-year-old in that hospital experiencing a traumatic event, that was not ideal,” said Kathryn. “Jeff and I had been together for so long that we work very well as a team. Clearly, that’s nothing anyone ever wants to go through with their children, but I think we both sort of went into problem solving mode because we did also have three other children who are back at the cottage with their grandparents that we needed to console.”
 
The attending physician at the hospital told Kathryn and Jeff that Beatrice’s CT scan confirmed she has suffered from a brain bleed, and she would need to be transported with Ornge. Beatrice’s transport took extra coordination as clinical staff were still determining which department and specialist should take on Beatrice’s care. The attending physician in Parry Sound was connecting with specialists at SickKids to determine if Beatrice should go to the ICU or straight to neurosurgery.
 
“What we were told from the hospital is that SickKids could not determine what “type” of case Beatrice should have been, and who should have been receiving her. I think there were choices of like paediatric ICU, trauma, neurosurgery, just general ER. We were told the physician in Parry Sound was sort of on the phone with SickKids for an extended period of time trying to figure out who was going to take her,” said Kathryn.
 
Through coordination with the Operations Control Centre, Beatrice’s transport was finally confirmed, and she was to be transported to Sick Kids to the neurosurgery department. The Ornge transport crew arrived, and Kathryn was notified by the nurse.
 
“What I didn’t realize is when the Ornge paramedics arrive, it’s a very surreal feeling. Like hearing the helicopter arrive, and I remember the nurse came in and was like ‘your ride is here’,” said Kathryn. 
 
The Ornge transport crew arrived in Beatrice’s room and were discussing medication with the neurosurgeon from SickKids. Paramedics Christian Odorico and Leslie Weeks began to administer medication. Beatrice finally became fully conscious since her accident and could speak her full name for the first time. Christian then began explaining to Beatrice everything that was going to happen on their way to SickKids. Kathryn, Beatrice and the paramedics then began to make their way to the helicopter.
 
“They were super comforting and very reassuring that she was going to be okay. I do remember at one point one of them gave me permission to take a picture of her. I remember thinking ‘I don’t ever want to remember this, why would I take a picture of this?’,” said Kathryn. “Looking back now, I'm so thankful that they suggested that and gave permission for me to do that without feeling like they were passing judgment on me to take a picture. I do appreciate that we have those pictures now and I’m glad that I took them.”  
 
The flight to SickKids took 55 minutes. Once Beatrice arrived at SickKids, the transport crew wheeled her up to her room through numerous elevators, while the paramedics shared information about Beatrice’s care. Luckily, Beatrice did not require surgery. The Neurosurgeon at SickKids advised Kathryn that Beatrice had a moderate traumatic brain injury, and they would monitor to see if the brain bleed would heal itself. Luckily, the bleed did heal, and Beatrice was cleared to go home.  

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• Patients and Families