Daughter saves mother's life

A daughter’s quick thinking is credited with saving her mother’s life Aug. 31.

What started as a normal morning for Robyn Stoeger and her daughter CeAnna Sadberry became terrifying after a persistent cough Stoeger suffered from gradually worsened.

“I felt kind of dizzy,” Stoeger said. “I was coughing because I couldn’t get air into my lungs.”

As her cough worsened, Stoeger decided to go outside and get some fresh air, thinking that would alleviate the cough. Upon stepping out on to her porch, Stoeger lost consciousness and collapsed. The sound of her body falling onto the porch caught her daughter’s attention.

Sadberry, an 11-year-old student at Monroe Intermediate School, was almost ready to leave for school when she heard a loud thud from the porch. She walked outside and found her mother unconscious. Sadberry then called 911 at 7:09 a.m.

“I was thinking ‘this couldn’t be it,’” Sadberry recalled. “It was my first time calling 911.”

While on the phone with the dispatcher, Sadberry said she was having a difficult time with the situation. Sadberry said she was crying and shaking as she spoke with the dispatcher and answering questions.

“I’m super scared, I don’t know what to do,” Sadberry remembered saying.

When the Castle Rock Ambulance Service arrived, Stoeger was blue in the face and was transported to Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County, then later transferred to Intermountain Healthcare in Murray, Utah. While it was initially believed she suffered from pneumonia, the cause of her coughing fit was ultimately found to be blood clots lodged in her lungs, limiting how much oxygen could get into her blood stream. The blood clots were the result of a side effect from medication she took. Sadberry attempted to go to school after the incident and tried to keep her mind off the morning’s events, but said she kept imagining her mom falling down on the porch. The summer has been especially rough for her since her grandfather passed away Aug. 14.

Sadberry said she called her grandmother later in the morning, saying she was having difficulties processing what had happened to Stoeger.

Robyn Stoeger said she was in the hospital for five days and looks forward to returning to her job as a custodian at Green River High School. Sadberry is happy to have her mother back home.