A two-year-old Indiana girl is fighting her way back after a terrifying near-drowning inside her family’s flooded basement, a crisis that unfolded as severe flooding across the state has claimed seven lives.
The child, identified by relatives as Alayna, became trapped when rising floodwater began pouring into the family’s Rush County home during days of relentless storms, according to her loved ones.
Alayna was at home at the time with her mother, Becky, and her 13-year-old brother, Liem, while her father was away, the toddler’s aunt explained in a GoFundMe created to support the family.
After Alayna was discovered drowning in the basement, Liem quickly dialed 911 as Becky began performing CPR in a desperate attempt to save her daughter’s life.
Floodwaters made it impossible for emergency crews to reach the house by standard means, so a nearby farmer stepped in with a tractor to help rescuers get to the toddler, her aunt, Poshia, said.
Alayna was later flown to Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital, where she remains under close care in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, known as the PICU.
Doctors initially placed her on a ventilator. By Saturday, relatives said her EEG monitor had been removed after she showed no signs of seizure activity.
Although Alayna developed a bacterial infection in her lungs following the ordeal, her family shared a hopeful update Sunday: the little girl is now breathing on her own.
Alayna, a two-year-old from Indiana, has been improving after she was found drowning in her family’s basement during horrendous floods
She contracted a bacterial infection in her lungs from the incident, but on Sunday, her family shared that Alayna is finally breathing on her own
‘After successfully completing her breathing trials—including one where she was able to breathe completely on her own for 31 minutes—Alayna passed her second breathing trial today,’ her aunt shared in an update.
Alayna has since been taken off a ventilator and her oxygen levels continue to rise. She has also been crying, but it something that her family is grateful to hear.
‘Hearing her cry after everything she has been through is a sound we never imagined we would be so grateful to hear,’ her aunt said.
Although she has greatly improved, the toddler is not entirely out of the woods yet as she is running a small fever that is likely linked to the infection she contracted.
‘There is still a long road ahead for our sweet girl, and we know we aren’t out of the woods yet. But today, we are celebrating a HUGE victory,’ the page read.
As of Sunday afternoon, more than $12,000 had been raised to help her family with mounting medical bills and treatments for Alayna.
At least seven people lost their lives in the floods, including Matthew Morey, 18, Stephanie Jo Sallee, 58, and James Briar, a 31-year-old bicyclist, officials confirmed.
A four-year-old boy died after a tree fell on him and woman was struck and killed by fallen debris from a roof, reports stated. Two other females also died. Their identities are unknown at this time.
At least seven people lost their lives in the floods, including a four-year-old boy and three women who have not been identified
Matthew Morey (left), 18, Stephanie Jo Sallee (right), 58, and her dog Faith died in the floods
Matthew Morey’s body was recovered on Saturday from the Mississinewa River after he was reported missing, the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office said.
Search efforts for the 18-year-old began after he and a group of people jumped into the water near Muncie on Wednesday, officials said.
It is unclear why they jumped into the water. Sheriff’s deputies helped pull three people to safety, but they couldn’t locate Morey.
Because of dangerous conditions, the search for Morey was suspended on Thursday amid the ‘once in a lifetime’ sweeping floods.
Stephanie Jo Sallee and her dog Faith also died in the flood after she was driving a vehicle ‘through moving water’ on the road, Jeff Stanley, the chief deputy of the Delaware County Sheriff’s Department, said.
Jo Sallee, 58, was found in a cornfield after her car got swept away. Her pug, Faith, was found deceased inside the vehicle on Saturday afternoon.
Police believe that she tried to exit her vehicle after it was swept into the field before being ‘overcome by the moving water,’ Stanley said.
Her family has remembered her as someone with a big heart who ‘never judged people.’
James Briar, 31, also died after he rode his bike around flooded barricades and onto a collapsed road that fell apart due to heavy rainfall, the New Castle Mayor’s Office confirmed
‘She persevered many trials in her life and remained a compassionate and loving person,’ they told WRTV.
‘Her family meant the world to her. She adored her nephews and grandkids and great grandkids! I will miss her deeply.’
Briar also died after he rode his bike around flooded barricades and onto a collapsed road that fell apart due to heavy rainfall, the New Castle Mayor’s Office confirmed.
