A 20-year-old Washington woman is in a coma after suffering severe burns after jumping into a hot spring in Yellowstone National Park to save her dog.
Woman is in coma with severe burns after jumping into Yellowstone hot springs to save her dog
On Monday afternoon, Laiha Slayton entered Maiden’s Grave Spring to rescue her dog after it escaped, park rangers said in a news release .
Her father pulled her from the hot springs, but not before she “suffered significant thermal burns from her shoulders to her feet,” authorities said.
The dog died from her injuries.
According to Yellowstone rangers, the temperature at Maiden’s Grave Spring is about 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
Laiha was identified by her family in a GoFundMe campaign to cover her medical expenses.
“My sister’s palms are completely gone and will have to have surgery and possibly the rest of her body as well,” Laiha’s sister Kamilla wrote on the page.
In an update on Wednesday, Kamilla said Laiha’s burns were “better” than doctors had initially thought. Although she had suffered third-degree burns, most of her body is covered in second-degree burns.
Laiha was “in the boiling water for about 8 seconds,” Kamilla added.
“This means that our father pulled her out incredibly fast. She has been very lucky,” Kamilla wrote, adding that her father had blisters on his feet, but had escaped further injury. “Dad saved his life. Please send him love and praise.”
She added that Laiha is likely to be in a medically induced coma for several weeks, and his hospital stay could last for months.
