Idaho Falls, Idaho. 20-year-old Laiha Slayton is currently at the Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in the burn unit, where she has been placed in a medically induced coma.
Earlier this week on the afternoon of October 4th, Laiha, her dad, and her puppy named Rusty went to Yellowstone National Park together.
At some point in their trip, Laiha and her dad stopped their car and got out to take in the scenery.
While they were getting out of the car, Rusty escaped and ended up jumping straight into Maiden’s Grave Spring.
Maiden’s Grave Spring is a hot spring, and according to the National Park Service, the water temperature is 200 degrees Fahrenheit inside of that spring.
As soon as Laiha saw Rusty enter the water, she jumped in after him in an effort to rescue him before it was too late.
GoFundMe; pictured above Laiha smiles with her puppy Rusty
Laiha’s dad then got Laiha and Rusty out of the hot spring, and he could see that Laiha had suffered horrific burns in the process of saving Rusty.
Laiha was ultimately airlifted to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center to be treated for her injuries, while her dad rushed Rusty to a veterinarian.
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Laiha’s dad had burned one of his feet while reaching into the hot spring to get her and Rusty out, but he was focused on getting Rusty medical attention before he did.
“My sister’s palms are completely gone and will have to go into surgery and possibly for the rest of her body too,” Kamilla Slayton, Laiha’s sister, said on a GoFundMe page.
“She is in a medically induced coma for 2 weeks, had emergency surgery, and (UPDATE) Laiha has burns on 91% of her body it’s about 50/50 3rd degree burns and 2nd-degree burns.”
Laiha’s body is burned from her neck down.
GoFundMe; pictured above is Laiha with her dogs
Kamilla said that Laiha will need to remain in a medically induced coma for the next 2 to 3 weeks at least, and after she wakes up, she will have to stay in the hospital for several months while she recovers.
Sadly, Laiha’s puppy Rusty passed away despite being seen by a veterinarian, and she does not yet know because she is still in a coma.
If you would like to donate to the GoFundMe page to help Laiha with her medical bills, you can do that here.