Hailey Heseltine
ECB Publishing, Inc.
Following a tragic accident earlier this summer, a young Monticello girl is facing a long recovery at University of Florida Health Shand's Hospital (Shand's). Tala and her parents, Josh Parker and Rachelanne Cleveland, are in need of community support to enable Josh and Rachelanne to stick by Tala's side and make her life accessible again when she comes back home.
Following an outdoor fire accident, 3-year-old Monticello girl Tala sustained burns on over 40% of her body, leading to multiple amputations. She faces a long recovery at Shand's in Gainesville.
On June 9, three-year-old Tala suffered burns on over 40% of her body after an accident with other children involving rubbing alcohol and an outdoor fire set her aflame. She was rushed to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, then airlifted to Shand's for urgent burn care. Tala has been in the Gainesville hospital ever since, facing a long and difficult recovery.
“They told us that, most likely, she'll be in the PICU [Pediatric Intensive Care Unit] for the rest of the year,” says Josh. “Then after that, she'll get moved to another room, where she'll have to do physical therapy and learn about her prosthetics and all of that, but that won't be until sometime later on next year.”
Following the burns, Tala went into septic shock. As a result, she needed to have multiple amputations, including her left fingertips and thumb and right hand. Though medical staff are certain her right foot will also need to be amputated, Josh says, they are waiting to see if at least part of her left foot will can be saved. Ultimately, she will need at least three prosthetics.
As of late August, Tala has been fighting her third bout of pseudomonas, an antibiotic-resistant bacteria, the first of which was what led to her septic shock. She has also begun the skin grafting process on her right arm, neck and face, but like everything else, it has come with ups and downs so far.
“Things change daily,” comments Parker. “It's very stressful for us. We can't really say she's good now, because the next day could be completely different, but she has so many people helping her, so many different teams at the Shand's hospital are working with her. The child life specialist is always checking on her, and there's physical therapy that comes and helps her work out, and then there's the surgical teams and PICU teams, occupational therapy, infectious disease, psychiatrists — there's so many doctors, and they're collaborating on a worldwide scale, chatting with their colleagues to find the best path to healing for her. She has so many great minds working there.”
Three-year-old Tala is pictured with her parents, Josh Parker (left) and Rachelanne Cleveland (right). The family needs community support as Tala recovers at Shand's in Gainesville.
Tala is an ordinary little girl, brimming with feisty personality and liveliness. When her parents would take her to daycare, she always refused to leave without being dressed to the nines in her sunglasses, cowboy boots and matching sparkly outfit. Her favorite color is pink. She loves drinking smoothies. Her favorite movie is “Ponyo,” and her favorite TV show is “Bluey”. She enjoys feeding chickens and playing with the family's dogs and cats. Chocolate and beans are her favorite foods. She loves to listen to her dad as he reads her a good book. Despite the constant pain and exhaustion she has been enduring for nearly three months, she is still herself.
“She is a very strong little girl. She's so tough, tougher than anyone I've ever met. Even through all of it, she's still herself, and she still has her mind when she's not too sleepy. She's still her feisty little self. That's really what we're holding on to,” says Josh.
The family has been focusing on her recovery, living in Gainesville to be there for their daughter every day. They are also aware of the tremendous challenges, both emotional and financial, that they're facing.
“Of course, neither one of us are really working right now, so we're just trying to make sure we can still pay our bills and also save up money for, in the future, when we're gonna have to remodel part of our house to make it handicap accessible,” explains Parker. “The prosthetics that we've been researching are really expensive, not only to purchase, but also to maintain … We keep coming across a misconception with the prosthetics, that it's very easy to have nonprofits create them or design them for free, but that's not how it works. We've also learned that she doesn't need just one. She'll probably need at least three, and each one is about $30,000. It's not just purchasing it. There's parts that will constantly need replaced, and since she's a growing child, she'll need to have a new one basically every year.”
To help the family manage the costs of being unable to work, medical expenses, prosthetics and later accessible home renovations, a GoFundMe has been set up to support them. There, mom Rachelanne posts updates on Tala's progress. The community has also been reaching out in other ways, some mailing checks, cards and necessary supplies. Notably, a local professional dog trainer has offered to train a service dog for Tala at a large discount.
Josh recalls, “There's been a lot of anonymous gestures from people, where you get packages or cards with no return address. It really shows the outpour and how far-reaching it's been. We really want to say thank you to everyone, and that it's only possible because of how many people have been helping us. I don't even know how to say how grateful we are when we can't directly tell them.”
The family expresses their gratitude for the community's support, as well as their gratitude for the medical staff at Shand's. Though Tala understandably is not a fan of all the poking and prodding, the staff has been knowledgable, caring and dedicated to helping her heal.
Rachelanne says, “They have really amazing technology, things we never would have known about, in the specialized burn unit. They're not common in the majority of hospitals, so we're thankful she's here. That's for sure.”
As Tala continues fighting on the long path ahead, financial support remains the family's most pressing need. Anyone wishing to support Tala and her family can donate to the GoFundMe at www.gofundme.com/f/please-help-this-precious-baby-girl. For alternative ways to support them, reach out to Josh (850-766-1095) or Rachelanne (850-766-0965).