On June 12, 2026, Grey broke her leg on a slip-n-slide in Lake Powell. Unfortunately, it was ultimately determined that she had severed her main artery behind her knee when she fractured her tibia. By the time this was discovered, she had gone nearly 38 hours without sufficient blood flow to her foot. Grey was immediately transferred to the University of Utah from Primary Children’s for emergency vascular surgery. During the initial eight-hour surgery, the surgeon performed a bypass of the severed artery by harvesting a vein from her healthy left leg and implanting it into her right. Due to complications from the severed artery and the duration of time without blood flow, Grey has undergone 15 surgeries so far. She spent over a month in the hospital and over two months with a wound vac to help her leg heal. Due to muscle and tendon loss, she is left with permanent drop foot in her right foot and still does not have any sensation or mobility in her foot or toes. There is one remaining open wound on the top of her foot, and she is scheduled for a skin graft surgery next week to finally close that wound. While the road will continue to be long, Grey is tougher than anyone, and she is a fighter! She looks forward to healing up, walking again, and joining her friends for their first year of high school soon!
Clissold Family
