This Friday we all attended the funeral of one of Jessi's great friends Tori. her story is below. Jess and other dance friends cried, smiled, laughted and sang as they said goodbye to Tori. She was such a strong example of sacrifice and strength. We are glad she is in a better place "dancing with angels"
Tori's Story
Tori Schmanski is our beautiful, brilliant, talented and vibrant 16 year old daughter who sustained a ABI (Anoxic Brain Injury) in an automobile accident on Fathers Day, June 19th, 2005. The accident involved Tori, her sister Whitney and two of their cousins. The vehicle they were all in rolled 1.5 times and landed upside down in a canal and everyone except Tori was able to swim out of the vehicle.
Whitney and her cousin were in the back seat of the two door vehicle and both of them distinctly remember being pushed out of the driver's side window and we truly believe it was Tori who saved their lives. This heroic action exemplifies the type of person Tori is. Tori has always focused her attention on helping and supporting others and her life revolved around her friends and family.
Tori was originally in the front passenger seat with her seat belt on and she was eventually removed from the back seat of the submerged vehicle by members of the EMT team after 15-20 minutes. She was then resuscitated and brought back to us during the 10 minute ambulance ride to the local hospital. At the hospital she was immediately stabilized and then Life Flighted to the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) at the PCMC (Primary Childrens Medical Center) in Salt Lake City, Utah. Tori also had to be resuscitated again during her hour long flight to the PCMC.
Tori has been fighting for her life ever since and has overcome the incredible odds against her survival. The PICU medical staff originally had little faith in Tori surviving from the severe lung damage sustained in the accident but she fought through it and her lungs are fully recovered at this point. They also believed Tori's brain was without oxygen for an estimated 25 minutes and the resulting anoxic brain damage would leave her at best, in a completely vegetative state. But we have personally witnessed incredible and miraculous activity from Tori including fully awake and aware states, responsiveness to sound and sight, body motion, smiling, laughing and crying among other things. Tori seems to demonstrate new improvement and behavior with each passing day.
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