9-year-old Idaho girl has ‘half of her skull removed’ after freak accident in backyard

SALEM — A 9-year-old girl is fighting for her life after falling out of a tree and landing on a piece of rebar that impaled the left side of her head.

Shaylyn Bergeson was playing in her backyard north of Rexburg on Monday when the accident happened. Emergency responders airlifted Shaylyn to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls. She was then flown to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, where doctors performed emergency surgery.

“She had a craniotomy and they removed half of her skull to relieve the pressure,” Jesi Bergeson, Shaylyn’s mother, tells EastIdahoNews.com. “They found there is a lot of bleeding on the right side of her brain too. They gave a 50 percent chance that she wouldn’t survive the surgery and she pulled through but now we’re just watching and waiting to see what happens.”

Jesi describes Shaylyn as the “kindest, energetic and most beautiful little girl.” She is supposed to begin fourth grade at Kershaw Intermediate School in Sugar City next month but remains in critical condition. Her prognosis is unknown at this point.

Jesi and her husband, Kurt, have been by their daughter’s side in Utah. They are no strangers to tragedy after Shaylyn’s older sister, Briauna Bergeson, died in 2016.

“She had a rare chromosome abnormality and passed when she was 10 after being on hospice for three years,” Jesi says. “We are not doing good right now. We lost her older sister just four years ago and the thought of losing another baby is tearing us up.”

The Bergesons are thankful for the support they’ve received this week from the community. Friends have established fundraising accounts at Beehive Credit Union and on Venmo to help pay for medical and other expenses. A GoFundMe account has also been set up.

“We feel so blessed as the community has rallied around us in a way we could have never imagined,” Jesi says. “We love them all and feel so blessed to be surrounded by such an amazing community. We could not imagine going through any of this without them.”

Shalyn’s parents and her 11-year-old brother, Tristan, are relying on their faith that she will recover. They appreciate the doctors and medical professionals who are treating Shaylyn and hope their daughter and sister will pull through.

“We know they are doing everything they possibly can to give her a fighting chance,” Jesi says. “She is so tough and is fighting so hard right now. Thank you to everyone from the bottom of our hearts. We love you all.”

This story was originally published July 31, 2019 at 12:49 PM.