From 'Horrible to Amazing:' How a Mom of a Hurt Child Keeps Hope Alive

The Accident

April 30, 2013 was just a normal day. Emily, 37, was making dinner in the family's three-story home in Emerald Vista, a newly built Dublin townhome and apartment community off Dougherty Road.

She asked her husband Rogel to take Ruth and her little brother with him to his parents in Pleasanton, but he decided to only take Zaiah, now 3. Ruth, then 6 and a first-grader at Donlon Elementary in Pleasanton, was busy going up and down the stairs, showing off some outfits to her mom, including a new bathing suit.

The next thing Emily remembers is hearing banging on her garage door and her front door. It was her neighbor, who had seen Ruth fall more than 30 feet from the window onto the asphalt driveway below.

"She was laying on the driveway. I was in complete shock," Carpizo said.

Apparently the window screen had given way, and Ruth, who may have been sitting on a built-in window seat talking to someone outside, had fallen.

Looking back, there are so many "what ifs." What if Rogel had taken Ruth to his parents? What if it wasn't so hot that day and the window was shut? What if. What if. What if.

But they try not to dwell on that, Carpizo said.

"The best thing is to hope that she will get better. This is the new normal," she said.

The New Normal

Ruth was taken directly Oakland's Children's Hospital, a decision the rescuers made that likely saved her life.

Since then, her recovery has been one day at a time, a daily process that Emily has chronicled on a Facebook page with grace and courage. The page now has more than 1,200 fans.

Friends, family and complete strangers have hung on her every word, rooting for Ruth through an agonizing journey from getting off a ventilator to opening her eyes, responding to stimulation and being able to sit in a wheelchair.

A huge hurdle was overcome at the end of July, when the family brought Ruth home from the hospital.

But due to fluid build-up in her brain, she needed another surgery earlier this week at Children's Hospital in Oakland to get a shunt installed.

Emily hopes at the least this will help stop Ruth from almost-daily vomiting episodes. More optimistically, it could help her brain heal enough so she can re-learn how to talk and walk.

Well wishers from all over the world share on the Facebook page their prayers for Ruth's recovery.

"Hello Ruth, I have been told about you by a friend ...I  am a Ugandan pastor and straight away I started praying for you. I am confident the presence and the power of the Lord is with you precious Ruth. You will be fine, love you,  Pastor Gabriel." 

How She Does It

The question everyone wants to ask someone who goes through something like this is: How do you do it?

Emily is used to hearing it. 

"I don't know how we do it. You just do it," she said, smiling.

She tries hard to be patient with the pace of her daughter's progress and to remember that it's out of their control. They have to just focus on caring for and loving their child.

She credits her faith with keeping her going. The family attends Cornerstone Church, and her devotion is often a theme of her Facebook posts.

"Without the faith I don't know what I'd do," she said. "I'm expecting something amazing to come out of this horrible experience."

Looking Forward

With Ruth back home now, more routine concerns lie before them.

While Emily and Rogel are both back to work, Emily is at North American Title in Pleasanton and her husband is at a pharmaceutical lab equipment company in Oakland, she says they've got a stack of about 100 hospital statements awaiting their attention.

They don't yet know how much of the costs their insurance will cover, so friends in the community are holding fundraisers, and they raised around $38,000 through an online drive that was set up right after the accident.

They got a van that fits her wheelchair, but they're trying to figure out how to build a ramp to help get it inside the vehicle.

Ruth is responding a little more each day. She loves listening to music and being outdoors and going for walks.

But it isn't always easy, Emily admits. Her son misses his sister playing with him. And Ruth can't yet walk or talk or feed herself.

"I have my moments," she said. "Many moments. But when I become depressed or overwhelmed, someone writes something or someone comes into my life and brings me back."

A fellow Donlon Elementary family is leading a donation effort to help the Carpizo family. For every Gametruck party that is booked, the Smiths will donate $50. Parties book up to a couple of months ahead, so call 925-519-0014 to make a reservation.