Injured girl still in critical condition
A day after falling off the back of a moving car, a Spokane Valley teenager remained in critical condition Friday with a skull fracture.
Amaryssa Byers and another girl, both 14, were sitting on the rear of a black Geo hatchback driven by Jessica A. Napier, 16, on Thursday. They were sitting on the car’s spoiler and reclining against the hatchback window, facing backward. According to police investigators, Byers fell off when the car turned to head south on Union from 21st Avenue.
Byers’ parents issued a statement Friday through Deaconess Medical Center, thanking fire and police officials, emergency workers and doctors.
“We are grateful for the support of our family, friends and the community who are praying for Amaryssa’s recovery,” said the statement released by Becky and John Byers.
“This is a life experience every parent dreads but never expects will actually happen to their child. Our child Amaryssa remains in critical condition. We expect with the prayers of so many and the great team of doctors and staff caring for her, she will be home soon.”
Valley Fire Department paramedic Dustin Thurman arrived at the accident scene Thursday with his partner, paramedic intern Brian Treffry, only three minutes after the call was dispatched. “We were in the truck and in the area,” Thurman said. “The goal for traumatic injuries is a response time of 10 minutes.”
Thurman and his partner initially thought Byers had been hit by a car. Several bystanders said they didn’t know what had happened but had just found Byers lying in the road, Thurman said. She was unconscious and having trouble breathing.
“She was lying in the middle of the road,” Thurman said. “She had a serious head injury.”
While they waited for other units to arrive, the paramedics loaded Byers onto a backboard and put on a special collar to immobilize her head and neck in case there was a spinal cord injury. Her mouth was clenched tightly shut, Thurman said, so at first they helped her breathe with an oxygen mask and a bag to force air into her lungs. “She was inadequately breathing pretty much the whole time,” he said.
Thurman said Byers was loaded into the ambulance only 13 minutes after he and his partner arrived at the accident. Thurman, Treffry and AMR paramedic Andy Singleton worked on Byers in the ambulance on the way to Deaconess.
They gave her medication to relax her muscles so they could insert a breathing tube, Thurman said. They also gave her medication designed to reduce swelling in the brain after a traumatic injury.
“We pretty much had our hands full all the way to the hospital,” he said.
Cpl. Tom Henderson of the Spokane Valley Police Department said no charges will be filed against Napier until the department’s investigation is complete. Napier has had an intermediate driver’s license for only 2 1/2 months, Henderson said. State law prohibits drivers who have had an intermediate license for less than six months from having any passengers under the age of 20 unless they are immediate family members.
Napier’s father, Jim Napier, declined to comment Friday when contacted by a reporter.