WELLINGTON, Fla. – A 16-year-old girl from Palm Beach County wants to say thank you to the firefighters who saved her life after an ATV crash last year.
Layla Rogan, of Wellington, was 15 when the ATV she was on slammed into a parked car.
Layla suffered a long list of injuries to her brain, jaw and legs.
Doctors told her parents she wouldn’t survive 72 hours.
“This can’t be how this ends. I did think that quite often,” said Ali Rogan, Layla’s mother. “I couldn’t accept what they were telling me.”
Apparently, Layla couldn’t accept it either.
She was unconscious for about a month, and then she started coming back.
“I don’t think anyone saw that coming,” Ali said. “It was really something magical that was happening.”
“It’s me,” Layla said. “Are we serious? It’s me.”
Months and months of therapy followed.
Layla had to re-learn how to walk, how to talk, and everything else.
“And then I went back to school,” Layla said. “And I made honor roll not once, not twice, but three times!”
Layla has since become very friendly with the firefighters who saved her life.
She occasionally posts videos on social media of her at the fire station, dancing and singing with them.
She turns 17 in October and told her mom she wants to thank the firefighters for giving her another birthday.
Ali wanted to bring lunch to the two fire stations that responded.
Layla liked the idea but wanted much more.
Since then, they’ve decided to feed every fire station in Palm Beach County.
“It makes me happy to know they did something for me so big, and I’m doing something. I’m paying it back,” Layla said. “I don’t think I can ever pay them back for saving my life. But I’m making my best effort.”
The Rogan’s are asking people in the community who want to help to sponsor a fire station and bring lunch on Layla’s birthday.
You can volunteer by signing up on the spreadsheet they’ve created.