Plano Woman Disfigured By Propeller Takes 'First Adventure' Since Accident
PLANO (CBSDFW.COM) – Hours after her daughter lost her hand and left eye when she walked into a moving airplane propeller, Lauren Scruggs's mother Cheryl told reporters that her daughter will "soar because of this."
"She was hit by a propeller," Cheryl Scruggs said that day from outside the Parkland Memorial Hospital Emergency Room, complementing her words with a tearful smile, "but she will be propelled to do God's work and claim him in all that she does."
On Dec. 3, the Federal Aviation Agency said Lauren, a 23-year-old Plano stylist and editor of fashion magazine Lolo, exited a small airplane after getting an aerial view of Christmas lights adorned on a slew of McKinney homes.
She then walked right into the propeller. A family spokesman said Lauren suffered a fractured skull, severe cuts and lost her left hand.
Since the accident, Cheryl Scruggs has stayed positive, and made sure the public knows it.
She's maintained a blog updating reporters and concerned parties on her daughter's status throughout her rehabilitation. The family told reporters on Dec. 8 that Lauren –– whom Cheryl refers to as "Lo" in her blog posts –– was out of intensive care.
"She looked at herself in the mirror for the first time today," father Jeff Scruggs said that afternoon. "That was big, and she said it's not that bad."
On Wednesday, Cheryl Scruggs wrote about another significant milestone: The two "made our first adventure," she said, to Whole Foods.
"We had many complete strangers stop us, with tears in their eyes, saying they have been praying for Lo and for our family," Cheryl Scruggs wrote. "Many have told us how the accident has them seriously thinking about how important God needs to be in their lives."
Cheryl's post is comfortably candid. She talks about how the past four-and-a-half weeks quickly came and went: "The days kind of seem 'smooshed' together," she says.
And, as in many of the family's public statements, Cheryl's focus returns to God.
"As a friend reminded me the other day when I was having a down moment," she wrote, "Cheryl, this life is just a dress rehearsal. Keep your eyes on the prize of Eternity."
