Please Consider Helping This Family in Crisis

In the past, those of you who read my blog have all been very attentive and considerate when I've posted about people who were suffering or in need.  I hope to impress on you today how urgently your prayers and/or support are needed in this case...

For as long as I can remember, I've been sensitive to the pain of others, especially children and the elderly. Now that I am a father of four, three of whom are girls, it's very difficult for me to see kids suffer. A local friend of ours posted on Facebook about some friends of hers (the Strodes) who are living in a nightmare right now. Their 4-year-old daughter was badly burned while they were trying to have a nice family evening with S'mores at their home, and her recovery will be a long one. This family actually lives very near the ActiveRain headquarters, in Kent, Washington.

Here is a letter from the Strodes themselves to their friends about the accident:

"Many of you know, and some may not, that we had a terrible accident at our home last night (Saturday). After an awesome family day of summer shopping and yard work Dave and I and the kids all spent dinner on our back patio and then decided it would be a wonderful night for our first s'more campfire. We waited and tried and tried for twenty minutes to get this fire going. We tried everything. Paper, kindling, wood, pine cones. Dave decided to get some sort of fuel to the fire. He added some and nothing. He added more and the can caught on fire causing a huge flash fire towards Tommy, Brooklyn, Addison and I. Immediately there were screams I saw Brooke's hair on fire and scooped her up and patted her till the fire was out. Dave had already run Addie inside to the sink as her hair and clothes were on fire. By the time I got into the house, maybe 30 second later, there were still flames. I grabbed her and patted her down with a towel on the kitchen floor. Dave scooped up Brooke as I sat with Addie on the floor. Tommy saw all of this and was screaming and crying. Dave called 911 and the paramedics were there withing just a couple of minutes. They took Addie immediately tot he ambulance and started working on her. The second set of paramedics to Brookie. I was able to kiss Addie goodbye and the shut the door telling me they were having her airlifted to Harborview. Dave took off with Brooklyn in her ambulance as they thought they were taking her to Mary Bridge.

Ray and Sally arrived about 20 minutes later. Sally took care of Tommy and our foster son (who had been sleeping peacefully the whole time in his room). Ray took me to Harborview. On the way Dave called me from the ambulance told me Brooke was sleeping soundly in his lap and they decided to keep the sisters together and take Brooke to the same hospital as Addison.

Fast forward to today (Sunday). Brooklyn's burn were superficial. She was discharged this evening and went home with Grandma Sally. Addison is in the Burn Pediatric ICU. She does not look like Addie. She is swollen from her burns but mostly from all the fluid they give burn victims. We will know more tomorrow. They had to intubate her, she has a feeding tube, her face, ears, hands and arms are all burned. For now they tell us that her burns are worse on the wrists. They think her face should heal on it's own. She is sedated. She can wiggle her precious little toes when asked.

This has been Dave and my hardest trial by far. While we would never question who God is and His almighty work we are asking "why?" We know there is no answer. Our beautiful babies have been hurt. Dave feels awful and needs to know that I love him with all my heart. He is the best daddy. We don't understand any of this. It's a nightmare that replays over and over in our minds.

This was a horrible accident. It took 2 seconds to change our entire lives.

Please pray for a quick recovery for Brooklyn. They say she will be as good as new soon. She was running around the halls being her sassy self all day. Please pray for Addie. She is in pain. Pray for wisdom of her doctors. Pray that we can see our sweet little girls face the way we remember it soon.

We have faith in God. We know He is the great physician, He works ALL things together for good. But our hearts are broken.

Dave and I love all our children so very much. We were called to be parents. We have been blessed with our children and we know they are our gifts from God.

Sincerely, The Strodes"

You can read blog posts about Addison's progress by her family at this site:

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/addisonstrode

(There are photos there as well, but I didn't feel comfortable sharing those publicly without their permission.)

If you would like to donate to help defray the cost of Addison's stay in the burn ICU, please make checks payable to Addison Strode and mail to the following address:

Addison Strode Medical Fund

PO Box 5847

Kent, WA  98064

If there are any questions or issues with making a donation to this account, please email Giancarlo & Tamara Papini at papinig@gmail.com.