Lying on a hospital gurney and barely conscious, Gludau remembers hearing a doctor shouting, “’I know what it is. Get her on a LifeFlight to Utah. We cannot help her here.’”
On the helicopter, a nurse advised Peerens to say his goodbyes.
“I had a good idea when they put her on the helicopter what was happening,” he recalled. “I tried hard not to show her panic. I wanted my last contact with her to be something with love.”
For six weeks, Gludau was in an induced coma. It was 2 a.m. May 4 when she “came to” — a planned awakening so her parents could be by her side. But she woke up early.
“I looked around and knew that I was in a hospital,” she said. “I knew something was wrong, because I reached for the nurse button, and it was on my right side. I couldn’t reach it.”
She screamed for help. A nurse came in. Gludau asked her what was wrong and why she was in a hospital. The nurse told Gludau that she needed to talk to a doctor. Gludau asked for her cell phone and called Peerens.
“I told him something isn’t right. I told him my arm was missing. I asked, ’What’s wrong with my arm?’ Neil said to reach over and touch my shoulder. I did.”
He explained to her what happened, and then they broke down.
For nine weeks, Gludau was in the burn center at the University of Utah, where she underwent six skin grafts.
_____
Alaska's moose have become gourmets rummaging around dumpsters.
_____
Buzzwinkle the moose has died at the age of about 13.
_____
