To The Editor Mother grateful for prayers

To The Editor:

I am the mother of the teenaged cheerleader, Autumn, that was struck by the drunk driver after the football game on Friday, Oct. 7.

The driver drove through the police blockade and struck Autumn as she was following her father, Daryl, and I to the car.

By God’s good grace, she had no life-threatening injuries, but her daddy and I can’t help but think how bad it could have been. We could have lost her in just the span of seconds. Plus, she lives to cheer and dance. The car could have broken her back paralyzing her, preventing her from doing the activities that she loves.

When I first walked around the drunk driver’s car and saw my daughter on the asphalt, I couldn’t believe this was happening to her, to us. We, as a family, have already been through so much with our younger daughter. Yet, there on the asphalt she lay. Crying, saying her legs were tingling, afraid that she was permanently broken. At the ER, by God’s miracle, no broken bones were seen. And, after what felt like an eternity to me, she stood up on her own and walked out into the waiting room where friends were waiting to hug her and see her with their own eyes.

I want to say how thankful I am that we live in El Dorado. The people here are wonderful. As soon as she was hit by the drunk driver, texts were being sent and prayers were going up. I will tell you right now that the only reason we still have Autumn is God and those prayers. Thank you to every police man and reserve officer that was there. Daryl and I know so many of you personally and I’m so glad that it was you there that night. Thank you for your hugs.

Thank you for letting us get close to her. Thank you to every fireman and medic that responded to the call. Thank you for taking care of our scared little girl. And, her very scared parents. Thank you for letting Daryl ride in the

ambulance and for calming me down. We were all so scared.

Thank you to Lisa Hooks and your family. There’s not enough words in the English language to tell you how much we love you. A special thank you to Sterling Claypoole. Daryl and I wouldn’t have survived the night without you.

Thank you to the ER staff for admitting Autumn quickly and attending to her every need. And, for making her laugh. She was so scared and you guys were great! And, a very special thank you to Dr. Gati. We were so glad you were there. It was a great relief when you came in. When you said she was OK, we knew she was going to be OK.

And, thank you to the Administration of El Dorado High School: Mr. Tucker, Mrs. Reibe, and Mr. Lansdell. Thank you for being there. And, we have the sweetest cheerleaders in the world at EHS. They were there in the waiting room waiting to make sure that our girl was OK. Thank you to Autumn’s friends and their parents who came to wait at the hospital, to pray and to support her.

And, of course, thank you to all of Autumn’s fellow students who were there and to those who were not there but were praying at home!!

Prayers do amazing things! Daryl and I can’t tell you enough how grateful we are for all of the first responders, the ER. and Dr. Gati. We can’t thank Autumn’s friends and our friends enough. And, we definitely can’t thank God enough.

Thank you, everyone. We love this town! Suzanne Parker, DVM El Dorado