ROANOKE, Va. – This story is from our sister station, WSLS-Channel 10 in Roanoke.
It’s nothing short of a miracle.
Aubrey Scaletta from the New River Valley in Virginia lost both her feet in an accident while riding in her dad’s pickup truck.
Daniel Scaletta was driving then six-year-old Aubrey and her twin sister, Grayson, home from gymnastics practice in Montgomery County in May when the unimaginable happened.
“It sounded like a big bang, the truck shuttered weren’t really sure what happened, next thing Aubrey is sitting behind me saying she’s bleeding,” Daniel said.
Daniel said the girls had a ratchet strap in the back seat when it somehow flew out the window, with one end wrapped around the truck’s axle and the other end wrapped around Aubrey’s feet, which ripped them off.
He rushed Aubrey to Carilion in the New River Valley.
“If we do everything swiftly and correctly, we’re going to have our best chance here,” Dr. Peter Apel with Carilion said.
Aubrey was then immediately airlifted to Carilion Roanoke Memorial where a team of doctors worked for six hours in surgery reattaching bones and veins.
“We had reached a point where the feet were viable it was unclear if it was going to make it or not, the only reason we stopped is because we had looked at each other and said we had done everything,” Dr. Apel said.
[Community rallies around family after child loses both feet in tragic incident]
In total, Aubrey had six surgeries and after spending 35 days in the hospital, she was finally able to go home.
“We put her in the car, we breathe a sigh of relief, we can go home and Aubrey says I miss my nurses,” Daniel said.
But Aubrey still got a chance to see doctors in physical therapy where she strengthened her feet with water aerobics.
Now just months later at seven years old, Aubrey, who uses a walker, is defying the odds.
If you head out to the Moss Arts Center to watch The Nutcracker performance this holiday season, you’ll see young dancers gracing the stage with elegance, but there’s one little girl some would say is capturing the audience’s attention.
Aubrey is part of the performance, and she’ll be enjoying it with Grayson, too.
“I didn’t think we would ever be here again,” Laura, the twins’ mom, said.
The parents are smiling from ear to ear knowing their family is adjusting to their new normal.
“It’s unbelievable where she has come from in the last few months, we went from a few months ago to her not being able to walk or bear any weight,” Daniel Scaletta, Aubrey’s dad said.