On the road to recovery

Eight-year-old Savannah Fitzgerald’s sweet tooth almost killed her.

After three weeks at Sacred Heart Medical Center, the Coeur d’Alene girl is now recovering at home from severe burns caused Feb. 4 when, thinking it was sugar, Savannah mistakenly ate a handful of the lye her mother uses to make soap.

Now Savannah’s mother, Brandee Marshall, is warning other parents to be cautious about how they store dangerous and poisonous chemicals.

The nightmare began when Marshall briefly stepped away from the kitchen table where she was making soap to take care of a load of laundry. Within seconds she heard Savannah screaming.

When Marshall ran upstairs and saw Savannah with her hand to her mouth and spilled lye on the floor, she knew what had happened and began washing her daughter’s mouth out with cold water.

“She’s in a sugar stage,” said Marshall of Savannah. The granular lye, stored in a plastic bag, looked just like sugar to Savannah. “I’ve been making soap all of Savannah’s life. It was the one time I walked away without warning her it was dangerous.”

In a panic, Marshall called her ex-husband, who lives nearby, to take Savannah to the hospital.

Chris Fitzgerald and Savannah’s grandmother, Gail Fitzgerald, rushed over and whisked a very frightened Savannah to Kootenai Medical Center as Marshall waited at home with her 7-year-old son, Chance, for word on Savannah’s condition.

The news wasn’t good.

“We thought we were going to lose her,” said Gail Fitzgerald.

KMC doctors said they couldn’t treat a case as serious as Savannah’s and she would have to be airlifted to Spokane. A breathing tube was inserted to keep her alive.

“You were afraid I was going to die,” Savannah said to her mom as the story was recounted.

At one time doctors told the family that Savannah might never speak again. Thankfully she can now talk.

Marshall and the Fitzgeralds, already in anguish over Savannah’s condition, were horrified to learn that Marshall was being investigated for child abuse in the incident.

Marshall’s ex-husband and family rallied around Savannah and came to Marshall’s defense.

“She did have a careless moment, but who doesn’t? All parents have those moments at some time,” said Gail Fitzgerald. “There’s nothing that anyone can say to Brandee that she hasn’t already said to herself.”

Marshall said that while she would never hurt her child she understands that authorities must investigate such accidents, especially in light of recent cases of children being injured and burned by contact with illegal meth labs.

Coeur d’Alene Police Sgt. Christie Wood said police were asked to look into Savannah’s burns, and found that they were clearly caused by an accident, not abuse.

“The case is closed,” Wood said.

For Savannah, however, the healing is just beginning.

Though the burns aren’t apparent by looking at her, Savannah is still on a feeding tube because the condition of her mouth and throat make eating painful and food tasteless. She also has difficulty speaking and will be receiving speech therapy in the coming weeks and months.

Still, Savannah is an upbeat child, full of energy and enthusiasm for her family pets, art, pop star Hannah Montana and playing with friends.

Family members say they expect her to make a full recovery.

Marshall has taken additional steps to protect her children and children she doesn’t even know.

All her soap-making supplies are now locked in a cupboard and marked with a homemade skull and crossbones. Marshall has also written up Savannah’s story, photocopied it to be handed out at soap-supply stores and posted it on online soap-making message boards.

“I cannot erase what happened,” Marshall writes of the incident. “I can only serve as a warning, and pray nobody has to ever experience this again.”