DES MOINES, Iowa (KCCI) – An Iowa girl who was severely injured in an ATV crash received a special surprise from her nurse.
The two formed a special bond when she was hospitalized; the nurse went above and beyond to make sure the teen didn’t miss out on a milestone occasion.
“I didn’t think I’d be walking these halls again like this,” Grace Johnston, a Martensdale-St Marys Community School District student, said.
Nearly six months ago, Grace was a patient at Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines after an accident that she never saw coming.
“We were having a lot of fun, and then we rolled and hit a bump and then it crushed my arm,” Grace described.
The ATV crash crushed her artery and her bones.
“At that point, all I could really remember was just seeing all this blood, and I was like, ‘Is my arm even going to make it?’” Grace said.
Grace underwent nine surgeries and had an extended stay in the hospital, but her mother, Jennifer Johnston, says one of the hardest things to watch was the emotional toll and missing a major milestone.
“It was very emotional because she was devastated that she was missing school and she was missing prom,” Grace’s mother said.
“It’s funny because the very first question I asked after the surgery was, ‘When can I go to prom?’” the high school student said. “They’re like, ‘You cannot go to prom, girl. You got to lay down.”
That’s when Grace’s mother confided in her nurse, Makenzie McBee.
“As we got closer to prom day, we knew that it was coming up and I mentioned it to Makenzie, like, ‘Hey, I’m just dreading it,’ and I would cry and I would say, ‘I don’t know what to tell her,’“ Jennifer Johnston described. “And Makenzie said, ‘Let’s do something.’”
So, they set a goal.
“We didn’t tell her about the prom, but I said, ‘Hey, at the end of the day, we’re going to walk this hall. We’re going to get up and we’re going to do it,’” McBee said.
The first steps she took since the accident led her to her junior prom at Blank.
In a room with a disco ball, a red carpet and music, Grace tearfully hugged her nurse because she knew that extra effort was a labor of love.
“Just to see the smile and happiness on her face made it well worth it,” McBee said.
In the same room, they reunited six months later, giggling, smiling and hugging again.
Grace says the women on her team at Blank not only helped her arm heal, but they helped heal the scars that can’t be seen, too.
“The fact that they do care and they could relate to us and understand what we’re going through, that was the biggest thing because if they didn’t do that, I don’t think I would have mentally recovered as well,” Grace said. “You feel blessed when you meet these people in your life.”
It wasn’t the prom she envisioned, but it’s one she’ll never forget.
Grace has big plans to attend her senior prom this year.
She has also been speaking at schools across Iowa, warning other kids about the risks of ATVs.
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