Sarah Frei Update Center

Sarah was able to get her speaking valve in on Sunday, and her voice sounds amazing! She is so happy to be able to talk. She said she has wished so badly that she could chat with her nurses and get to know them, instead of nodding yes and no or attempting to mouth what she needs, repeating herself until someone understands. She feels excited to talk with her family more, to finally be able to talk to her friends, and to communicate with her hospital staff. Sarah has always had a gift for getting to know people. She asks thoughtful questions and listens intently. She has so much light to share and so much good to give - it will be so exciting for her to communicate more effectively! Sarah was also able to do her swallow study today!! She has been waiting this day for weeks. She started with little soft ice cubes, then sipped some water, and as she tolerated that she was given thicker foods. She tasted orange jello and was in HEAVEN, then progressed to chocolate pudding, applesauce, grah...

Sarah went back to the OR on Sunday morning for wound VAC changes on her left leg, glutes, and belly. The doctors say that everything is looking really good!! Muscles are healthy and look great! They will be able to do the next wound VAC changes at the bedside. Then we're hoping for only one more trip to the OR to close the leg incision sometime this week or next. 

On Monday, Sarah had her first experience sitting in her wheelchair, and her nurses took her outside! The best part was, they allowed Sarah’s family to come down and see her, and it was absolutely incredible. Sarah was able to be with her parents and all her siblings outside the hospital. It was a very emotional and tender experience. Sarah had been battling an infection all weekend, so it was clear she was tired. She stayed outside as long as she possibly could, and we enjoyed every minute of it. We talked about how she’s feeling, and she mentioned how hot it was. She’s been inside for all this August heat! She liked the wind on her face and showing us her physical therapy exercises. On Tuesday, Sarah woke up feeling better, but as we talked to her the gravity of her injuries was weighing on her. She was feeling a little more down about her situation, and as she talked with her siblings on FaceTime, we commiserated together. Sarah loves having people to talk to, and we are always happ...

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  Sarah was taken to the OR around 10 PM last night. Her left thigh had started to swell up. The plastic surgery team came in and looked at it. They said that because of the heparin (blood thinner) she is on, it had started to bleed inside. They stopped the heparin and took her to the OR to clean out the blood that had collected in her leg. There is also still  concern about an infection somewhere so they wanted to check her muscles to make sure everything still looks healthy. The surgery went well. They opened up the incision on the side of her thigh and drained about a liter of blood out of her leg.  The muscle all looked healthy and fine.  They left her incision open and put a wound VAC on it. They opened up the glute incisions too just to make sure things were good there. They looked fine and had good blood supply. No signs of infection and no concerns there. They left wound VAC’s on her incisions on her glutes too just in case they need to be checked again. It w...

  Sarah had a much better day today (Aug 26)! In fact, today was probably her best day yet. Her temperature and heart rate are down to normal now, her tummy feels a lot better, and she had a dialysis treatment yesterday afternoon to help out her kidneys. All of these things - combined with the faith and prayers of so many on her behalf - helped boost her energy level today. It was a very good day!! She spent some time doing exercises with physical therapy and then her sweet nurses planned a spa day! She got to wash her hair (had to get out a huge knot in the back of her hair from laying in this bed for almost a month now) and she did her own braids!! She was loving it!!! She ended the day with a manicure and face mask treatment. She was totally pampered by her sweet nurses. We have loved and appreciated each one that has taken care of our sweet Sarah. They lifted her spirits today! They are seriously the best!!! Thank you to ALL of the UofU hospital staff for taking care of Sarahs ...

  Real talk. Sarah has been through so much trauma. She has been so strong through this whole thing, but honestly, let’s be REAL. It’s okay to have a bad day and today was just one of them. She has a hard time sleeping at night. She has two tubes coming out her nose, a breathing tube in her neck and almost every part of her body has been poked and prodded. She has bruises down her arms and almost completely covering her hands from all her IV’s. She can’t talk. She gets acid built up in her stomach and has to throw up for it to clear out. She has incisions all over her body. Literally the list is almost endless. Sarah is still a fighter and will continue to fight every day, but today (Aug 25) reality just kinda hit and things were a little sad. AND THAT’S OKAY. She continues to feel loved through the prayers and faith of many thousands of people, so thank you. Sarah is so strong, but some days it’s just okay to be sad too. That’s the pure reality of a situation such as this. And som...

Aug 24th was one of the greatest days in the last 3 weeks. Sarah was able to go outside for the first time and her family was able to come see her! She loved it!! She has missed them so much and they have missed her so much! The nurses and therapists were so sweet to bring her out to see her family. She still has her fever off and on and still has a high heart rate. Her CT scan yesterday showed that everything was fine in her abdomen,  but they saw some very small PE’s (pulmonary embolism- very tiny blood clots) in her lungs. They are thinking that those  may be contributing to her fever and high heart rate. They started her on a heparin drip for that. They are still trying to rule out any source of infection too. All other tests are negative so far. She’s very sleepy and getting lots of good rest which her body needs so badly right now. Overall, today was a good day - the highlight was definitely being able to see her family.  It was awesome!! We are continuing to pray f...

Sarahs 17th trip to the OR in the past 21 days was a complete success! The plastic surgery team worked on closing up her legs and glutes. All the muscles were healthy and viable and they were able to make a complete closure of all areas in ONE surgery! We had been told it might take several surgeries to get her all the way closed. What a wonderful blessing to have it all done in one surgery! There was enough muscle for really good coverage of her thigh bone without removing any length. We are so grateful for this wonderful blessing and miracle!  After all of the washouts and with this final closure, her legs are just shorter than mid-thigh. Our prayer has always been that she will have enough of her legs to be able to sit comfortably. Our prayers have been answered. Having this much of her femur bone will help her to sit so much better! With her back done and her legs and glutes closed we are very near the end of surgeries. She still has a wound VAC on her abdomen that may be able ...

Today was a big day for Sarah! She was finally able to get her broken back fixed after waiting 3 weeks now for her more critical injuries to be addressed first. Everything went great! They were able to get her spine back into alignment very nicely. The fusion is from T12 to L4. Two above and two below her fracture. Such a relief to have that done now!  She will be able to sit up more now that it has been straightened out. Thank you for so many prayers. We love you all so so so much  Tomorrow is a big day as well. They will start the closure on her leg wounds.  Prayers please for tomorrow’s surgery that there will be enough muscle to keep as much length as possible. Thank you!!!

 Sarah went back to the OR today for a washout of her legs, glutes and abdomen. Things are looking pretty good! She had some areas of concern in her abdomen the last few times they've checked it. They decided to put in some mesh to help fortify her abdominal muscle. Then they replaced all the wound VAC's in all three areas. The plan is to go back on Friday to start closing things up! Yay! We might be nearing the end. They also want to do her spinal fusion this week either tomorrow or Thursday. She's doing great and feels great!

 Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers for Sarah along her journey. God hears and answers our prayers. We are seeing miracles happen with her progress and are thankful that she is still fighting. We were told her situation if she were to lose her glute muscles, survivability is very low. So the procedure today to check her muscles was very important.  Sarah went in for a check on her gluteal and leg muscles today. The doctors said that things are looking really good!!! They have seen much improvement from 6 days ago when we were told she would lose her gluteal muscle almost entirely. No muscle tissue needed to be removed!! It all looked healthy and viable. The doctors were very encouraged by the progress she has made over the last few days. They will continue to watch closely. We will continue to wait and be patient for her body to do the healing that it needs to do. Thank you for all of your fasting, positive thoughts, energy and prayers for healing for our dear Sarah....

Today was the day Sarah found out about the extent of her injuries.   Both mom and dad were allowed to go to the hospital to be with Sarah to talk to her about her accident and her injuries. They had prepared themselves for this difficult conversation for two weeks now. It turned out to be a very tender and sacred moment. Mom describes Sarah during this experience saying, “She looked like an angel. Her skin was glowing and she had a faint smile on her face the whole time.” Mom described to Sarah the extent of her injuries and made sure she understood what everything meant. Then she said, “Sarah, I know that’s a lot to take in. Do you know your Heavenly Father knows you? Do you know He loves you and has a plan for you?” Sarah nodded. “He has a plan for you. There is going to be time for lots and lots of tears about this loss, but right now we are crying tears of joy because we still have you. You are the same Sarah.” Sarah asked questions about cheer and a few other things as she sp...

Today was one of the most agonizing days of our lives - pleading with Heavenly Father for a miracle if it be His will to grant it. We were blessed tonight with the best news we could have possibly received. Originally the doctors said it was "highly unlikely" that they wouldn't take out her gluteal muscles. Today the gluteal muscles still looked pale and were not responding to stimulus, but they were not dead. They left everything there. Nothing was removed! The tissue surrounding the muscle all looked healthy. We are feeling cautiously hopeful that things will be okay with her glutes. We are so grateful right now we can't even tell you!!! We are cautiously hopeful going into this weekend that her muscle will remain viable and that she will be able to keep that muscle that is so important for her comfort in this life.  During her surgery today, they put in a temporary tracheostomy to get her through the rest of her surgeries.  Now she'll be able to communicate muc...

 Sarah's temperature, heart rate and breathing rate came down enough this morning to take her back to the OR for her 11th surgery since the accident happened 11 days ago.  Surgery today was to clean out her wounds again. This will be the pattern every two days until they are ready to be closed up. Her back surgery is on hold until they are all done with the legs. Today they needed to remove a small amount of unhealthy muscle tissue from her right leg wound. They also checked her gluteus muscles that they had been watching. They didn't look great - both on the right and on the left. This is not the news we wanted to hear. They are going to keep those incisions open with a wound vac on until Wednesday. They will take her back in on Wednesday to look at the gluteus muscles again and reevaluate. We are hoping for healing for these muscles that have been so severely damaged from lack of proper blood flow. Thank you for joining us in prayer for Sarah's continued healing. Your bea...

Yesterday a bake sale was organized in Layton by a dear friend of Sarah's from junior high school, Beya Russell, on Sarah's behalf. Beya, you and your family are amazing for doing this for her! Thank you! We love you so much!!  We were overwhelmed with the amount of support from the community.  People brought baked goods, desserts, treats and bread, along with merchandise like T-shirts, masks and bracelets. Raffle tickets were sold to win prizes. Hundreds of people came to support Sarah and her friends. People lined the street waiting to buy a Sarahstrong T-shirt. Most everything sold out in an hour. We are in awe at the generosity of our community for Sarah and these sweet kids who were involved in this accident. We are so grateful for everyone who participated in this successful fundraiser. 

We have had a minor setback with Sarah. Over the last 36 hours she has been running a fever. We found out last night that she does have an infection in her bloodstream. The infection was caused by a common intestinal bacteria. They did a CT scan of her abdomen last night to check for any areas of bowel that might be leaking. Nothing was leaking and everything looked great!! Such great news!! They’re not sure where the infection is coming from.  She was started on antibiotics to get rid of this infection and are treating her fever as well. The plan is to continue antibiotics and check a blood sample every day for infection. All surgeries are on hold until this infection is cleared.  Hanging on the walls in her room now are positive thoughts for her to remember and pictures of her cute friends to bring her some cheer.  Thank you for all your positive thoughts and prayers for Sarah. We know that there are so many angels - seen and unseen -  that are helping her right n...

Sarah was in the OR this morning for a short while. (Surgery #10) They cleaned out her leg wounds. Fortunately, all of the muscle tissue looked healthy and they did not need to remove any!! They will take her back to the OR on Monday to clean out and assess her wounds again. The plastic surgery team will be there to make their plan for closure of her leg wounds. We are definitely seeing progress!! Sarah‘s kidneys are working so well that they were able to take her off of the dialysis machine yesterday! Good job Sarah!! Her back surgery is scheduled for next Wednesday. Thank you for your continual love and prayers!!

            Sarah is a sweet angel that we are so glad to have as part of our family. One of her defining characteristics is her sincere friendliness and kindness to everyone around her. She is always concerned for other people’s feelings and makes sure everyone is included. She is funny, witty, and always laughing and smiling. Sarah has always been a performer. She has always loved being the center of attention and would sing and dance in front of friends and family as a child. One time, at the age of about 3, there was a church/community talent show. At the end, the M.C. asked if anyone else had a talent that they’d like to share. Sarah raised her hand. She walked up to the front, took the mic, and sang the Hannah Montana theme song for everyone. Growing up she was a part of a singing and dancing group called Showstoppers and loved performing on the stage. Later, she got into tumbling, gymnastics, and cheerleading. She has been a ...

Surgery is done! They were able to close her tummy all the way!!!! Our prayer was answered!! Thank you for all your prayers!! They are helping and working!  They took a look at the leg wounds. Cleaned out just a small amount of dead tissue, will do another clean out this weekend maybe Saturday or Sunday, then the plastic surgery team will take her to the OR on Monday to start the process of closing her leg wounds up. There was so much muscle damage from lack of blood flow for so long that they said it’s going to be a “process” meaning probably a few surgeries before they are done.  Another miracle was that they were getting a little concerned about her kidneys and wanting them to be producing more urine. They did what they call and “kidney wash” - gave her a bunch of fluid and then followed up with a diuretic.  They said sometimes it works and it was worth giving it a shot. Well it worked!!! Way to go Sarah!! Sarah tolerated the surgery very well. She is b...

This blog post has been written by Sarah's older brother, Mitch. Sarah will not undergo any major operations today.  Instead of talking about Sarah specifically, it will be focused on her influence as it relates to her older brother Jake.  Sarah has a 19-year-old brother serving a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Germany. They were so close growing up, especially in the years prior to him leaving for Germany last summer. He’s been struggling not being with the family during this time (he still has a year to go), but has received much comfort, support, and has seen miracles since Sarah’s accident. Here are a few of those miracles he has seen: Two weeks prior to Sarah’s accident, my mom suggested that we all write handwritten letters to Jake. “Why?” we asked. “I got a prompting.” Well, you can’t argue with revelation from God. So, we all sat down and wrote him letters.  We mailed them off and expected him to get them in about 2 ...

Sarah did really well during her 6 hour surgery today. She remained very stable the whole time. The doctors fixed her broken nose and shouldn't have to do any more work there. They were able to close about half of her belly incision. There will hopefully only be one more surgery on her belly incision to get it all the way closed. They checked all the areas where they had to sew the pieces of bowel back together and they all looked great! Nothing is leaking and some areas are already starting to heal! Such great news!!! Her leg wounds were cleaned out. Only a little bit of dead muscle was removed. The plastic surgery team was in there to make a plan for closing up her wounds. The plan is for surgery again Thursday or Friday to close the belly and check her leg wounds again. We've been told she will also have her back surgery this week. Hopefully not too much longer and we will be done with surgeries. We're so grateful for the outpouring of love and prayers for our ...

Now that the major surgeries are less frequent, the family has decided to have this blog focus more on big updates, stories and memories from family and friends. We have created an Instagram and Facebook page dedicated for more of the day-to-day status updates. You can access those by clicking here. For today’s post, Sarah’s brother Mitchell took some time and put together an amazing explanation of how Sarah has been able to communicate with us so far while in the hospital. Enjoy! Since Sarah’s accident, she has been undergoing numerous surgeries. In order to breathe while she is put under, they have her intubated with a breathing tube. This has not allowed her to speak since being in the hospital. We can’t imagine the frustration of being fully conscious yet unable to communicate through speech, but it has been inspiring to watch her progression in her communicative abilities.  After the initial major operation, she was aware but strapped to all kinds of cords, hind...

During Sarah’s initial surgery after the accident they explored her abdomen in order to find the source of her internal bleeding. It was coming from her intestines. They had to remove five or so sections ( 30% ) of her small intestine and a small portion of her colon. They told us it would take “several surgeries” to get this all repaired. Sarah was in surgery today for 8 hours to put her intestines back together.  The amazing doctors took their time and hand-stitched  all the pieces of her bowel back together. They got her completely put back together from one end to the other in one surgery!! They also were able to repair her severely torn abdominal muscles during this surgery that we thought would take another surgery. Sarah’s vital signs were stable the entire time.  We just feel like exclaiming "Thanks be to our Heavenly Father for his eternal love, mercy, and grace."  After we talked to the doctor and while Greg was typing up a text to send out to the f...

Today, we pray. We pray for the muscles in her legs to be healthy and viable. We pray that she can keep as much of her legs as possible. We pray that her organs have been healing and will tolerate surgery today. We pray that her abdomen can heal properly in order to perform surgery on her spine. We pray for her spirit as she is told the extent of her injuries.  We know God already has a plan for her body and for her life. We just want to make sure no plea goes unasked and no prayer goes unsaid. We know there are thousands if not millions across the world praying for our sweet Sarah. Friends, family, neighbors, missionaries, and total strangers. We have heard countless stories of Sarah's story touching lives. We thank you for your faith and prayers. 

We have created Sarah a new email address specifically for family and friends to write her a note, send pictures, and share videos. Here is the address: StrongLikeSarah2020@gmail.com Feel free to send your notes to her and as she continues to recover she will have access to this and be able to feel your love directly. 

From the start of this new journey with Sarah, the Frei family has been overwhelmed by your attention and support. So much love has been sent through messages, flowers, gifts, and incredible service. Many have asked where and how they can support the family. A GoFundMe campaign and an America First Credit Union account have been created for this purpose. We are so grateful for the love and support from everyone, and we want to make sure no one feels like they have to donate or that we are even asking. We simply felt it was important to provide an avenue for those who would like to bless Sarah in this way to be able to contribute. There is no goal, and there won't be. This is just about Sarah and her future. No dollar will be mishandled or go to waste. The information for how to contribute through one of the options is below: Option #1 - GoFundMe https://www.gofundme.com/f/sarah-frei-medical-expenses Option #2 - Bank Transfer If you are an AFCU member already you can ...

Sarah just got out of a 3 hour operation to check on her legs. The muscles in the thighs were not looking good. The doctors needed to remove more dead muscle, but stayed as conservative as possible and kept everything that seemed reasonably viable. Unfortunately, they had to remove 6-8 inches more of each leg. So now her amputation is mid-thigh. Our prayers are still being answered that she can keep as much of her legs as possible. Keep them coming. We know they are working. They will continue to evaluate her over the next couple of days. If she stays stable tonight and is looking good tomorrow we expect another surgery tomorrow to address her abdomen.  On Monday they will take her back to the OR to evaluate the legs. We are still not in the clear. We are praying that the muscles in her thighs will stay/become healthy so that they will not have to take off any more. Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers. They are needed and they are felt. Sarah is a trooper and is s...

Tune in to KSL news at 5 PM and 10 PM to hear more about Sarah’s story and to see how a community can come together to show so much support and love in such a great time of need. The outpouring of love on Sarah’s behalf has been unbelievable. Our hearts are FULL as we witness family, friends, neighbors, strangers, and communities rise up and support Sarah in these new trials and challenging times. We love you all and are grateful for every sacrifice given. 

Last night everyone following our story witnessed a true miracle. Words cannot express our gratitude for all the prayers said on Sarah’s behalf during those crucial 2 hours of watching and waiting. The response to our urgent call for prayers was overwhelming. And they worked. A miracle occurred. Sarah’s doctor told us that amputation of her legs at the hip was very likely. The muscles in her thighs had started to die from lack of blood flow and they weren’t sure if they would be able to save them. We asked for prayers to save as much of her legs as possible so that she can live the rest of her mortal life as comfortable as possible. Thousands of you prayed. God heard you and he answered. We are beyond grateful to all of you for this miracle.   Sarah's surgery went well. They performed a double amputation of her legs at the knee. They removed some dead tissue from her thigh muscles and will continue to monitor them for blood flow and viability. We are definitely not...

Thank you! Before our last post and the plea for prayers, the doctors were not hopeful that she would keep any of her legs with a possible amputation at the hip.  The doctors gave us a two hour window while they watched and waited and her numbers miraculously remained steady. They have decided that they will be able to amputate at the knee. This is exactly the news that we have been hoping for! Since the last post the traffic on social media and this blog have gone through the roof and we know it's because of your faith and prayers that Sarah is going to have more of her legs for the rest of her life. Thank you! We will update as more information comes.