CAMAS — Dorothy Fox Elementary School kindergartner Aubrey Taylor was playing at recess Wednesday when she fell off the monkey bars, hitting her head and back.
Aubrey had a seizure after she fell. Paraeducator Don Holmes was one of the first staffers to rush to her aid while others called an ambulance and her parents. Her mother, Jen Taylor, was close enough to get to the school and ride in the ambulance with Aubrey.
On Thursday, Aubrey was feeling better. She was suffering from the effects of a concussion but other than that was doing well, her parents said.
They brought her to Dorothy Fox on Thursday, the last day of school, to thank staffers for helping her and to let her friends know she was feeling better.
“My daughter is with us today because of his actions,” Brett Taylor, Aubrey’s father, said about Holmes.
The Taylors’ two older daughters attended Dorothy Fox and liked the school. But Jen Taylor said she wasn’t sure if the family fully appreciated the preparedness of the staff until Wednesday’s scary incident.
“I always knew they were in good hands, but I didn’t really know until (Wednesday),” she said. “I know it’s something they train for, but the way they executed it, it’s not something you do daily. It shows a lot about the district and the staff at Dorothy Fox.”
When they took Aubrey to school on Thursday, she exchanged an emotional hug with Holmes, who couldn’t be reached to comment for this article.
Jen Taylor said teachers and staffers were coming up to them Thursday to see how Aubrey was doing — even teachers none of their kids have had before. School staffers were reaching out to the family throughout Wednesday to check on her, as well.
“The emotional support they provided us was exponential,” Brett Taylor said. “It blew my mind.”
He added that Holmes is his “hero.”
“We try to trust the environment we put our children in,” Brett Taylor said. “We want to make sure it’s the right environment education and safety-wise. I can’t thank them enough for what they did for my daughter.”
