SALEM, Mass, — A Salem Hospital nurse is thankful to be back home after almost losing her life in an accident in Thailand.
“I remember going to see the elephants, and we went ziplining and like all the excursions that we did, but that’s it,” said Sierra Fairhurst.
Fairhurst was on vacation in Thailand with her friends a few weeks ago.
She remembers renting a moped, and then everything goes dark.
“We were on the road and then we weren’t,” said Fairhurst.
Sierra doesn’t remember the accident, but she woke up in a small hospital in Krabi with severe injuries.
“My eye socket is broken, I almost lost my eye, my cheek bones and nose were broken, so that’s all metal now,” said Fairhurst.
She also suffered a brain bleed, a broken collarbone, and lost most of her teeth.
“I talk with a lisp now, and people often ask me to repeat myself a few times,” said Fairhurst.
“I know she’s very self-conscious in regards to the scarring on her face and missing teeth, but she still came out of this alive, and her brain is healing and doing well, and she’s still beautiful,” said Zoe Rose, Sierra’s mother.
Sierra’s mother flew to Thailand to help Sierra get the surgeries she needed in Bangkok before finally flying back home to Salem, MA.
She says all that matters is getting her daughter back.
“I can breathe,” said Rose.
Sierra says she’s thankful to continue her recovery at Salem Hospital, where she works as a nurse, and hopes she’ll get back to doing the job she loves soon.
“I would definitely like to heal quickly and be able to get back to work and see my coworkers and my friends and take care of my patients,” said Fairhurst. “But I know I need to be able to pour from a full cup, and if my cup isn’t full, I can’t help anybody else.”
This family is also thankful they flew back home just a couple days before a 7.7 magnitude earthquake rocked Thailand.
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