MIDLOTHIAN, Va. -- Hailey Lane pulled up in a convertible with her mom, and the 20-year-old Air Force Cadet was welcomed home with bright smiles, cheers and thankful hearts. More than six weeks after suffering a cardiac arrest she traveled this route home; decorated with love by neighbors. Her favorite color yellow was everywhere. From lamp posts and mailboxes, signs, balloons and ribbons welcomed her back.
Hailey was determined to walk through her front door. ‘
“I’m so thankful to be home,” she chuckled. “I feel like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. I should have a pair of ruby slippers on now and be clicking them together.”
She said the community’s outpouring of support is an amazing feeling to experience. Loved ones and friends say she’s an amazing young lady, who doctors at one point didn’t think would survive.
A massive heart attack left the Air Force Cadet with just five percent of her heart functioning.Hailey was on life support for days.
Her mom Brigid Lane says she’s convinced that prayers pushed Hailey through this ordeal.
“We have all been brought to a deeper faith because it was God who brought her here,” Lane said. “It was because of the power of prayer in our community.”
Hailey said she’s still “blown away” at how the “We Are Hailey Strong” movement took over social media sites, nationally.
“I appreciate the support from my friends and people I didn’t know,” she said. “It helped me get through this.”
“I was like people are looking out for me, so I’ve got to try hard every day,” Hailey said.
She credits great doctors, nurses, strong family and community support and her strong will for her miraculous recovery. As for the road ahead, Hailey says she still has to have a few more surgeries and intensive physical therapy sessions.
But she says she is already looking to the future with a thankful and grateful heart.
