Two paramedics from Parkland Ambulance who were injured when they were hit by a vehicle in Las Vegas are back in Saskatchewan and on the road to recovery. Katrine Sinclair and Charlie Lastowsky were celebrating Katrine’s 21st birthday with another friend when they were struck by a car in Vegas on April 18. Both sustained severe injuries. Roberta Sinclair, Katrine’s mother, said that she wants to get the message out about the experience so it won’t happen to others. Roberta said April 18 was Katrine’s birthday and the three friends had plans to eat at Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant and walk the Las Vegas Strip. Around midnight they were taking some pictures by the famous Welcome to Las Vegas sign lit up when they were struck by a vehicle. Roberta said the next picture they took was in the hospital. “It’s quite a shock when you get a phone call from police officer letting you know that your child has been hit by vehicle (and) her and her friend, they’re on their way to a Trauma Centre in Las Vegas,” she explained. Latowsky had partial medical insurance while in America and Katrine was uninsured. Since that time, Sinclair and family members of the other women have worked to get them back to Canada. Sinclair said on April 19 she received a phone call from Las Vega Police at 3:30 a.m. “After that, I decided I was going to drive to Las Vegas but I’m glad I waited for a Sunday direct flight because it gave us the opportunity to make a few arrangements with everything going on before we took off,” Roberta explained. “Being that Katrine had no insurance, we had to go to the bank and make some arrangements there. I worked with the local police station just to see if we could get more details out and since it was an ongoing investigation nothing could be released.” After that, she got in contact with Lastowsky’s parents and they worked together to get a direct flight out of Saskatoon. “We lucked out,” Roberta said. “Sunday is the only direct flight to Vegas. Once we got to Vegas, we rented a car (and) got to the hospital and see our girls. It was emotional to see our girls, but of course as parents, you do have to keep your cool. It doesn’t help anyone if you have a meltdown.” Roberta herself said she is surviving the ordeal as people have been asking her this question frequently. “I have to remind myself to take a deep breath and breathe, (and) ask the questions I’m supposed to,” she said. “Your belly is just in a constant state of turmoil.” She has been taking notes to keep herself together with doctor’s names, rooming numbers and other important items. “Between Charlie’s parents and me, we were a really good team supporting each other, (and) helping each other,” Roberta said. “We started getting information (about) how to get our girls home, which is a much bigger process than we imagined.” In Nevada, the families had to get a doctor’s approval along with a doctor to accept them in Saskatoon. “Then the hospital that is accepting the girls has to have available beds,” she said. “Once that is all in place, you have a special number that you need to phone and make arrangements, once that is all in place, you need to actually arrange an air ambulance. Then you have to pay for that upfront and all the medical release records need to be released.” Despite the challenges, there were some positives. Roberta said the people taking care of her daughter in Las Vegas were fantastic. “They always supported our girls,” Roberta said. “They took care of our girls, but I’m very happy to be back on the Canadian side of things and want to share the story so other people can learn. Be prepared because you never know when you’re travelling what may happen.” Katrine has sustained a pelvic fracture in three locations, one broken rib, a broken shoulder and fractured vertebrae in L3, L4 and L5. Roberta said the broken vertebrae was the worst news she could have heard. “I’m very happy to say that she does not have nerve damage. She is walking, wiggling all extremities, but in a lot of pain, of course, because of all those multiple injuries,” Roberta said. Roberta added that the air ambulance cost approximately $45,000 Canadian or around $63,000 American, which was done by wire transfer from the families bank to the air ambulance company. “I want to be really transparent about the cost because we have seen so much support from the public and I honestly think we need to be more transparent in Canada how much our hospital stays cost,” Roberta said. After the accident a GoFundMe was set up to support Lawowsky and Katrine, which as of May 1 has raised $90,896. Roberta said the support from the community has been amazing. “It’s been tremendous,” she said. “It’s been lifting up the girls’ spirits and I’m not just talking financial support, I’m talking like other people sharing stories, other people sending messages of well wishes. It’s been helping the girls heal, helping the girls pass time in the hospital, distracting them from their pain.” Roberta said that you cannot beat small community support and even extended it to Las Vegas. “The whole hospital floor was cheering for them as they were loaded on the stretcher to go to the air ambulance. All of the communities here back in Saskatchewan were encouraging us, asking us how the process was getting along. They were looking at resources for us,” she said. “The GoFundMe financially wise has been lifting a huge weight off my shoulders because it takes the edge off of the hospital bill. There are no words to express the support (and) the well wishes that we have been getting from the community.” She said that Lasowsky is sitting up in a chair and shuffling her feet “So that’s really encouraging Katrine because she fractured her pelvis in three areas. Her healing has been a lot slower. She has to be off her feet (and) non-weight bearing for eight weeks at least, so that’s going to be a little bit tougher. She’s going to need a lot of physio, so that’s where we are right now.” Roberta said that the entire ordeal has been a learning experience. “I just want to use this as a lesson for other people to really be careful out there but don’t let it limit yourself. These young people, especially after COVID, we’ve become almost like in our own little world and scared to venture out. But life is precious. Things can happen to you. But don’t be afraid to venture out. However, do protect yourself because there’s always unexpected events,” she said. michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca