The little girl was playing on a motorized go Kart mere feet away from her parents when things went awry. Loud noise and cries suddenly split the pleasant atmosphere as Lanny’s enjoyment turned to pain and terror.
And her parents were equally distraught when they saw what had happened to their daughter. In just seconds, the accident left Lanny bleeding on the gokart with serious injuries, requiring a frantic race to the hospital.
The gokart that entertained Lanny so much had literally scalped her and resulted in skull fractures. Now her parents are hoping others will learn from their traumatic experience to avoid suffering in the same way. But what could have happened on a child’s gokart to lead to a five year old girl surgery?
The October 2018 party, which took place in a Louisiana backyard, should have been a celebration. All of Lenny’s loved ones were present, including mom Macy Gatro, dad Jacob Use, and step granddad Jason Blanchard. And that’s exactly how it began before events took a turn for the worse. To be specific, Lenny was having a great time in the yellow gokart, which once belonged to her uncle, and while the vehicle was a metal framed, motor driven build, it was specifically designed as a child’s toy. Firstly, Lanny was limited to the turtle Speed.
In addition, Ghetto put her daughter’s hair in a bun. I just tied it up like this, the little girl’s mother told Inside Edition, indicating her own tied back hairstyle. They took a third precaution, too. Her father was close by, as he described in his own words. I was walking right alongside of Lanny, you described.
I probably was five or 6ft away from her. Indeed, the home video the family took of the little girl shuttling around the yard confirms as much. It shows her happy and laughing as she bounces around in the kids yellow painted gokart. We live in Louisiana, Ghetto explained to the sun, and riding go karts and four wheelers is just something we do here. But little did the Use family know that that day would end in tragedy from something so apparently harmless, it turned out that even being right next to Lanny couldn’t prevent what happened next.
Lenny was having the best time going around in circles on her go cart, but the vehicle was bumpy as a result, the motion disturbed the youngster’s hairstyle, which came slightly loose from its bun. Suddenly, she was in danger, and neither the little girl nor her parents realized until it was too late. The home recording reveals how Lanny rode the gokart right past her father, who reached out from the frame, however, when he missed his daughter, then drove towards the camera. And that’s when the accident happened. As Gatro told the sun, it was terrifying.
It was like in a horror movie, Geetro continued. Lanny was riding in circles on turtle mode on my brother’s old gokart. It was going slow enough that we could walk right beside her. I was riding in front of her when I suddenly heard screaming. The parents then watched the whole disaster unfold in front of them.
When Lanny let her hair fall back, her hair became trapped in the motor belt behind her and it pulled her whole head back, Gatro recounted. But that was the least of the youth family’s worries. As the mum recalled, she said that it also scalped the little girl almost completely. The right side of Lanny’s scalp was just hanging off, Ghetto elaborated. It was ripped from the front all the way to the nape of her neck.
In addition to her obvious grizzly injuries, when the little girl’s head hit the gokart, the impact caused serious damage. In fact, she had signs of brain trauma. Lanny was drifting in and out of consciousness, Katro said, and her eyes were rolling in the back of her head. Then there was the problem with the little girl’s hair, which was still jammed in the motor belt to contend with. Her grandmother had a solution to that issue, at least.
As Ghetto told the Sun, My mom was screaming at someone to get a knife or scissors. My stepdad physically cut Lanny’s hair with a knife while the little girl was free. However, her family could also see the extent of the damage. Indeed, the site just escalated concerns for her life. In addition to Lanny’s loose scalp, the accident severely fractured her skull, making medical treatment essential.
And although someone had called emergency services, they might have arrived too late to save the five year old. Consequently, her parents took matters into their own hands and whisked her off in a personal vehicle. When the youth family got landing to the hospital, the facility wasn’t equipped to deal with such traumatic injuries. As a result, an air ambulance had to deliver the little girl to another institution to try and save her life. Their destination was New Orleans Ashner Medical Center, where doctors could perform the necessary surgery.
Lanny didn’t have to wait long for her surgery either, as doctors arranged her operation for the following morning. Nevertheless, Ghetto described the weight as a really difficult night and understandably so, as her daughter’s condition hadn’t stabilized from the mom’s perspective, in fact, the little girl’s survival was very much touch and go. Lanny was in the ICU, where her heart rate was dropping as well as her oxygen levels, Guitar said. They were trying to keep her up because when she fell asleep, her vitals went nuts. I thought I would lose her.
On the other hand, the little girl’s surgeon was confident about her recovery. Kettle clarified what the physician said about Lanny in an interview with Inside Edition. He reassured me that she was going to have her hair and he was going to save her. But after receiving such injuries, the young girl needed a five hour operation to repair her damaged head. It turned out that when Lanny’s head hit the back of the gokart, the impact fractured her skull.
Indeed, the bone was broken in four different locations, and there was also brain damage to contend with caused by lacerations to her brain. Doctors could save her, though it was unclear if she’d suffer any lasting side effects. With this in mind, surgeons went ahead and performed lifesaving surgery on little Lanny, starting with her brain injuries. The next step was to reseal her broken skull, which physicians did with the aid of dissolvable plates. The technology they employed is incredible and very useful for younger patients.
Lanny needed six such dissolvable plates for her skull, and the surgeon’s work wasn’t finished there either. Her scalp needed to be reconnected, which in some circumstances would require a skin graft. This procedure generally involves taking skin of varying amounts from an undamaged part of the body to aid healing. Fortunately, though, Lanny was spared this measure, and instead her doctor opted for an alternative recuperation method. He took the top of the little girl’s scalp and pulled it over to the right side of her head.
It didn’t just cover the injury, but was also a prime place for regrowing. The little girl’s lost nerves, Gestro told Inside Edition. I thought Lanny was gone. I didn’t think she was going to make it. She did survive, but her parents had some initial concerns about their daughter’s mental and physical health postsurgery to begin with.
In the months following her operation, the little girl developed seizures akin to epileptic episodes. Epilepsy experts categorized seizures into different groups in 2017 to aid with professional diagnosis and treatment. Lanny showed signs of suffering focal seizures, which affect a single part or focal point of the brain. She has little seizures every day, which doctors are investigating, Ghetto said. According to the Sun, Lanny’s mother continued, she just stares into space for a few minutes and feels very tired afterwards.
We have an appointment in April about this, but it’s likely something she’ll cope with for life. Medical examinations to resolve the matter later revealed something that concerned the little girl’s parents. Lanny’s EEG in January said her brain activity was abnormal, which is worrying, Ghetto explained. But we have to take each day as it comes and do the best we can for her. In addition to that, she also suffered some eyesight problems and nerve damage to her left side.
The little girl is encountering some psychological issues, too. As her mother explained, she loved dancing and cheering before the accident. She has to be careful now with her brain injury, she can’t tumble and loud noises scare her and she doesn’t want to be too far away from us at any point, she said. After the accident, Lanny was really depressed. Ghetto went on.
She cried a lot and she didn’t know how she looked. It was heartbreaking. The little girl also apparently suffered from post traumatic stress so her mom arranged a therapist appointment for her. Other positive aspects in the five year old’s life helped too. Apparently, ghettoe was heavily pregnant when Lanny had her accident and feared the stress would induce labor.
It didn’t, though, and she delivered the baby a little girl called Presley just a few months later. She’s the best big sister in the world. It’s so sweet, Ghetto told the sun. It’s been some light and a terrible time, Lanny’s mum added. On a similar optimistic note, the little girl’s hair grew back as healthy as ever just nine months after the accident.
She also had a message for inside addition. When the cameras turned to her, she said, I’m happy ask for Lanny’s parents. They want to take the opportunity to warn other parents of the danger of gokarts. Even if you think you’ve taken precautions, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Ghetto said after the accident, I would not be comfortable with her riding one herself.
I had tied her hair into a bun that day, but it came loose. I would make sure children’s hair is tied up securely and they’re wearing a helmet. The mother of two concluded Lanny was riding the gokart on turtle mode and this still happened. I want to share my story so another child doesn’t have to go through the previous my daughter’s. Endured.
