Giving Love to our Beautiful Erin

On July 11th at midnight Erin was in a very serious accident in Boston. She was in a hammock on the roof of our brother's apartment which was attached to a chimney on one side, and a wall on the other side. The very heavy and old chimney could not hold this weight and cracked, landing on Erin.  She luckily had her boyfriend, Jack with her who lifted the chimney off of her and called her brother Todd who called 911 and held her still and calm until the rescue team came. She was lifted off of the roof and brought straight to Mass General Hospital. Here they determined that Erin had injuries to her ribs, lungs, and her c6 vertebrae. She has lost all feeling in her legs, and most feeling in her arms. She is currently in the ICU and is predicted to spend at least 2 or 3 weeks at the hospital and then move to a rehabilitation center for 2 months minimum where she will start to work on regaining the use of her arms and hands. She has had one surgery on her spine to put in a metal rod that goes from her lower neck to her mid-back which will be permanent to stabilize her. She will need another surgery on a torn artery in her shoulder. With this type of injury it is very rare that Erin will be able to have use of her legs again. Of course we are staying as positive as we can, but, for lack of a better term, it would be a miracle if she can walk again. She also will most likely not regain the usage of her fingers, making her quadriplegic. As hard as this is to hear, this is our new reality and as family and friends we need to be able to know this in order to support her as best we can.

Erin is a 21 year old who would have been a senior at Goucher College in Maryland where she majors in English and plans on going to law school. She loves to see the world and was expecting to go to London this fall to study abroad for a whole semester. In the summer she worked at Bear Springs Camps six days a week as a server. During the school year she babysat once a week and worked at the front desk of the fitness center at her college. This seems natural for Erin as she loved the gym and went every day for at least two hours. Erin played field hockey and lacrosse in high school and she played two years of college field hockey. She loves to listen to music, laugh, get her nails done, and go shopping (Pink & Victoria's Secret of course). Erin has four siblings, I am her 18 year old sister. Erin is not only my sister, but my best friend in the whole world. Erin and I love to laugh and take videos of each other doing stupid and funny things. We share the love of field hockey, where I play at the University of Maine in Orono. Here I also major in Kinesiology and plan to be a college field hockey coach. Our older sister Leigh is 23 and an alumni from Goucher College where she has a Bachelor's Degree in Women's Studies and Sociology with a concentration in Health and Medicine. She is currently a CNA and plans on doing more schooling to become a Registered Nurse and eventually a Nurse Practitioner. Leigh and Erin loved to go out together in Maryland where they attended college together for 3 years and lived together for one year of school. They also have some pretty legendary YouTube videos together. Our brother Todd is 19 and also goes to Goucher College where he majors in Bio-Chemistry and Molecular Biology with a Pre-Med concentration. Todd and Erin spend a lot of time together at school and share the strong quality of being loving and kind. They always walked to classes together and studied together along with our sister Leigh. Our 12 year old brother Tobin attends Messalonskee Middle School where he enjoys and excels in robotics. Tobin looks up to Erin and also gets his big heart from her. Our parents, Heidi and Lee have been together for 31  years and married for 26 years. They have worked so hard to give us whatever we need throughout our whole lives. Our mom Heidi has been a hair stylist for 31 years, but because she needs to give all her strength and love to Erin she will have to close her hair salon in Maine. Our father Lee has his own property maintenance business and also is a pile driver out-of-state in the winter. They truly have given us unconditional love. We call ourselves "The Field 5" and we have a bond that will never be broken, no matter the pain we may endure. 

Along with her family, Erin has many amazing friends from Maine, Maryland, and so many other places that love her to the moon and back. We have had so much support and love come our way and we are so grateful for all of you. We are making this page so that all who have been asking to help can do so. We extend so many thanks to all of you and we believe with all of our hearts that Erin will be strong through this and find her value and purpose in life, no matter how long that may take. Tell your family you love them, pray, and share your strength with those who may need it during this difficult time.