Five-year-old girl partially scalped from go kart
A little girl is lucky to be alive after she was partially scalped when her hair became caught in the motor of a child's go kart.
Lani Use, five, was riding on a gasoline-powered go kart at a family party when her hair became caught in the vehicle's exposed motor belt.
Her head was pulled backwards in the accident, fracturing her skull in four places and ripping the right side of her scalp off from her hair line to her neck.
Mum Macie told the Daily Mail: "It was terrifying. It was like a horror movie.
"She was riding in circles on turtle mode on my brother's old go kart. It was going slow enough that we could walk right beside her.
"I was walking in front of her when I suddenly heard screaming.
"When Lani let her head fall back her hair became trapped in the motor belt behind her and it pulled her whole head back.
"The right side of her scalp was just hanging off. It was ripped from the front all the way to the nape of her neck.
"She was drifting in and out of consciousness and her eyes were rolling into the back of her head.
"My mum was screaming at someone to get a knife or scissors.
"My stepdad physically cut her hair with a knife.
"The ambulance was taking so long that we bundled her into a car and brought her to the hospital which was a mile away.
"We had to hold her scalp to her head with a towel because you could see her skull and her brain.
"Her injuries were too serious for the hospital to handle and she was airlifted to New Orleans almost immediately.
"Lani was booked into surgery the next morning and it was a really difficult night.
"She was in the ICU and her heart rate was dropping, as well as her oxygen levels.
"They were trying to keep her up because when she fell asleep her vitals went nuts. I thought I would lose her."
The child pulled through the surgery but doctors were unable to determine the long term extent of her brain damage.
Since the accident, Lani experiences small seizures up to three times a day which doctors are currently looking into.
