Sweet homecoming
Molly Look plays with sisters, does ranch chores after returning home
Thursday, February 1, 2007
How to help
- Donations to help with Molly Look's medical expenses may be made to the Molly Look Fund at any Mountain Valley Bank or Vectra Bank branch. Alpine Taxi is accepting donations for Molly through today. The company will match donated funds, up to $5,000. Cash or check donations will be accepted at Alpine Taxi's barn at 1755 Lincoln Ave. Donations also may be given to any Alpine Taxi driver. For more information, call 879-2800.
- A spaghetti dinner and silent auction fundraiser for the Look family is from 5 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Steamboat Springs Community Center. Tickets are $15 for adults and $8 for children older than 5. To donate food or gifts or for more information, call Christian Heritage School at 879-1760.
Steamboat Springs — Molly Look spent her first day home feeding the cows.
"Grandpa Dean (Look) was on his way out to the feed cows and stopped by to see if the girls wanted to go," Molly's maternal grandfather, Bob Printy, said Wednesday. "So they bundled Molly up and the three girls went out with grandpa to feed the cows. She loved it."
Molly, 3, returned home Monday evening after spending more than two weeks at Denver Children's Hospital recovering from frostbite. She wandered outside on the morning of Jan. 17 and was found 30 minutes later sitting on a snowbank wearing only a long-sleeved shirt by a passerby. Temperatures that morning were well below zero.
Molly lives with her parents, Del and Yvette Look, and older sisters, Lexy, 11, and Kady, 8, in North Routt County. Dean Look lives about a mile away on Routt County Road 129. Bob Printy and his wife, Bonnie, live about a mile in the other direction.
Molly's homecoming was a blessing, Printy said.
"It was so nice to see her there," he said. "She's very happy to be home, too."
Del and Yvette Look, who had not been home since driving to Denver on Jan. 17 to be with their daughter, also are improving, Printy said.
"It's been pretty hard on them, but they're doing better," he said.
Printy said Molly has lost "several" of her fingertips on both hands and "a few" toe tips as a result of the frostbite.
The Looks will take Molly to Yampa Valley Medical Center every three to four days to have her bandages changed, Printy said.
"She gets around with them on just fine," he said.
Doctors at Denver Children's Hospital were amazed at how quickly Molly could climb a chair to play air hockey.
"She's trying the best she can," he said. "Molly is still quite sick, but she's adjusting the best she can. She's got a long road ahead of her."
Doctors have not told Molly's family whether she will lose more than some of her fingertips or how she will adapt to the loss of her fingertips as she grows older, he said.
"Right now she doesn't know what she's lost. We're just trusting that she doesn't continue to lose more farther down her fingers," Printy said.
To help offset the cost of Molly's medical care, Alpine Bank and Mountain Valley Bank have set up accounts for people to make donations in her name. Alpine Taxi is continuing to accept donations until midnight tonight for Molly. The company is matching donations, up to $5,000. A group of community members is hosting a spaghetti dinner and silent auction for Molly from 5 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Steamboat Springs Community Center.
The Looks don't have health insurance.
The Look family is aware and appreciative of all that the community is doing for them, Printy said.
"The community has taken it upon themselves to do all this for us," he said. "It is truly amazing."
Comments
countrygirl 6 years, 3 months ago
Welcome home Molly! Good to have you back! We are all still praying for you and a fast recovery.
6624sw 6 years, 3 months ago
Our thoughts and prayers are with you, Yvette and Del!
DR 6 years, 3 months ago
Don't forget...there is a Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser next Tuesday February 6th.
Another fundraiser is being coordinated for Molly on February 23rd.
If anyone is interested in donating items for the silent auction or volunteering to help out. Please email me at
drobson@co.routt.co.us.
The community of Steamboat is really pulling together to help out the Look family. All proceeds will be given to the Look family to help with their medical expenses.
Thank You!!
SteamboatJoe 6 years, 3 months ago
Do they have health insurance now? What irresponsible parents to first bring a child into the world without health insurance then not supervise the child enough to prevent this from happening. As a parent I'd bet that wasn't the first time she went outside by herself - child proof locks??
secretshopper 6 years, 3 months ago
Molly and Parents, we have a daughter the same age and this hit us really close to home. We want to let you know that Molly is in our prayers and kids have amazing ways of adapting to new surroundings. As you go forward (because beating yourselves up on the past won't help anyone) tell your daughter she can do anything she sets her mind to. She's a child of the almighty God, and she will succeed!
goldilocks 6 years, 3 months ago
Joe- you must not be a parent. If you had followed the story, you would know that the parents had a miscommunication. And if you did have kids you would know that this kind of stuff happens. Child proof locks are a great idea, but even 3 year olds figure out how to open them, no matter what you do. What Molly and her family needs right now is support and prayers from our community. The Looks feel terrible about what happened, and harping on the negative will not help them or Molly move past this tragedy.
Molly, it is great to know that you are back! We have missed you. Your speedy recovery and health are in our thoughts and prayers.
countrygirl 6 years, 3 months ago
SteamboatJoe: Anyone who knows Del and Yvette know that this is a great family who had a tragedy strike. If you don't think they aren't killing themselves right now with all could have and should have and only if I'd dones your wrong. I've never seen two people more stricken with guilt and fear. I hate to steal your righteous thunder. But nothing you can say will be worse than what they are putting themselves through everyday.
And the only thing they really are guilty of are being human. Not being able to foretell the future and block bad things from happening to their daughter.
They are just like everyone, living their lives everyday the best way they know how.
Just curious if the same folks had locked and chained their door, and had a fire, and the same little girl had suffered the same injuries due to burns instead of cold, would you be wondering what kind of parents would lock their children in?
We can't be with our kids ever second of everyday. We do the very best with what we know today. Will they do things differently now? Probably, we are nothing but our experiences.
I expect your hurtful words come from someone in your life judging you unfairly. I'm sorry for that. But, for Del and Yvette I hope they feel nothing but the love and support that is overwhelmingly coming from our community! We love you guys and hope Molly is through the the worst of this soon!
You can bet I won't be the only one at the Spaghetti dinner either!
SteamboatJoe 6 years, 3 months ago
"you are one small gnat which hovers above useless garbage." Davinci - Thank you for your selective compassion. I can assure you that this gnat sacrifices to make sure that my family of gnats has health insurance. But from the wonderful response on this board, maybe i should cancel my health insurance and rely on the community to pay my medical bills.
Otto_Stader 6 years, 3 months ago
Country girl,
Your observations are thoughtful, but our society has gone way overboard to prevent the spread of fire in homes. Also, a parent who would lock a child inside and then leave is far different from locking a child inside while the parent is present.
It's very obvious that this was a tragic accident caused by a precocious child. It might have been prevented by a door alarm or some other precaution the parents might have taken, but maybe not.
Has anybody gone to their house and checked for batteries in the smoke detectors?
Are poisons, booze and other toxic substances locked up?
Are firearms locked up?
Is the water heater set for 120F or less to prevent scalding?
Does the automatic reverse on the garage door opener work (if they have one, of course).
Have their dogs and cats been vaccinated?
Have the kids been vaccinated?
Are there cover plates on all the outlets and switches?
Are there ground-fault circuit interruptors on all the kitchen, bathroom and outside wet area electrical outlets?
A young child can fall head-first into a 5 gallon plastic bucket and drown. Some kids will find a way, no matter what you do to protect them.
If there's a crime here, it's that the parents did not provide health insurance because they could not afford it. There should be more doctors, medical school should be cheaper, and medical care should be made not-for-profit by a constitutional amendment. A few thousand thoughtful physicians free to concentrate on healing the sick without fear of career-ending frivolous lawsuits would be a nice change.
Former Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards was a plaintiff's lawyer who got rich from medical malpractice cases. His personal wealth is estimated at $30 million. "The John Edwards we know crushed [obstetrics, gynecology] and neurosurgery in North Carolina," said Dr. Craig VanDerVeer, a Charlotte neurosurgeon. "As a result, thousands of patients lost their health care."
Why not invite Mr. Edwards to one of Molly's spaghetti dinners? A Democratic town like Steamboat ought to be able to get his attention on the way to the White House, right? He's living in luxury on dollars that we spent on medical insurance premiums, so maybe he'd kick a few back to a working family in need.
gwendolyn 6 years, 3 months ago
Big surprise -- a doc telling people to not sue for malpractice.
sheesh.
Bigger surprise -- a story about a 3 year old and her family needing help in a tragic time turning into a medical - lawsuit discussion.
double sheesh.
Y'all need to volunteer at the high school. The debate coach can always use a little assistance with the speech team and, who knows, maybe you'll learn a thing or two about staying on track with the subject at hand and avoiding tangents that read like projectile vomit.
I hope Molly is doing well and that her parents forgive themselves over this unfortunate incident. 22 years ago my own precocious daughter of 3 years of age did something similarly life endangering that I've never forgotten but thank the heavens she survived it.
In the middle of the night when she was supposed to be in bed...she got up, dragged a dining room chair into the kitchen, used it as a ladder to climb up on the kitchen counter, stood up and opened the cabinet door above the refrigerator, reached in and took out a bottle of adult cough syrup, and, well, drank it. A lot of it, anyway. She made a mess and then went back to bed. I got up a few hours later, saw the mess in the kitchen, put 2+2 together, scooped her up and took her to ER. It was a long night of hell.
Social services were called by ER staff and put me/my family through even MORE hell until they were fully satisfied it wasn't an intentional event or that we could not have done anything more to prevent this accident.
Insurance covered 80% of the medical bill. Not 100%. The ER/hospital bill was not a small amount of change, either. With or without medical insurance, I'm quite certain there is still an outstanding bill in the Look's name that may be presenting tremendous hardship on this family. If I can avoid cooking dinner any night of the week AND help someone in this community out a bit, well, what's there to complain about?
SteamboatJoe 6 years, 3 months ago
What you liberals, who complain that Health Insurance is too expensive, fail to realize that the Look family is part of the problem. Who do you think pays for the uninsured? Those who have insurance. It wouldn't surprise me if Molly's medical expenses top $100k. Will your spaghetti dinner cover that? No, its people like me whose insurance has skyrocketed that ends up paying the bill. The family took a stupid risk and lost. And that poor innocent girl is the one who will suffer. I have a daughter and I would go to the ends of the earth to make sure she is safe and has the protection she needs I.E. INSURANCE. This topic speaks to a bigger issue that liberal society keep preaching - no one is accountable. Bull - if you're gonna have a kid be responsible about it. Health insurance today is just as important as a roof over your head. So go ahead and rally around a spaghetti pot. How about doing something for the little girl like use the money for a will, life insurance, an education fund or something that will benefit her directly. Her parents have had a chance to make choices and they've made some bad ones.
secretshopper 6 years, 3 months ago
Rally we will Joe! It's not just you who have sky rocketing health insurance bills, everyone (even the liberals joe) who has it does. It's just about caring and wanting to help a little girl. Besides who are you to talk, we've seen conservitive's fiscal responciblity the last 7 years. Terriffic job!
DR 6 years, 3 months ago
SPAGHETTI DINNER FUND RAISER FOR MOLLY LOOK:
Please do not forget to attend the benefit for Molly Look.
5-8pm Tuesday February 6th!!
However, if you can't make it - please mark your calendar for February 23rd. Another group of friends and family are coordinating a benefit/silent auction to be held at Olympian Hall. All proceeds will be given to the Look family to help with their medical expenses.
Any and all contributions are very much appreciated!!! THANK YOU!!
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