Welcoming Presley home: Community rallies behind Mount Prospect girl who lost her legs

Orange ribbons adorn the trees of a Mount Prospect neighborhood, alongside yard signs with “Presley’s Posse” in pink letters and a Superman-style “P.”

The signs and ribbons — used in connection with Limb Loss and Limb Difference Awareness Month in April — are emblems of a close-knit community supporting the recovery of 13-year-old Presley Grimpe.

Presley, who lost both legs after an illness that kept her hospitalized since March, was greeted by the display on her return home June 25. She and her family are embarking on the next stage of her recovery, which begins this summer as she catches up with both friends and the classwork preparing her for 8th grade at River Trails Middle School.

“It’s overwhelming. It’s heartwarming,” her father, River Trails School District 26 school board member Bill Grimpe, said of the community support.

The home itself has undergone some temporary modifications. Carpet has been removed and vinyl plank flooring installed so Presley can ride her wheelchair from room to room.

Doctors say it will take about a year for Presley to get used to using prosthetics. She currently walks with test sockets — what Kristin Grimpe calls her daughter’s “little feet” — and a small foot plate, with the aid of a walker.

“It’s very difficult because they are very heavy and I haven’t been walking in a while,” Presley said.

The last time Presley walked on her own was in late March, when her parents helped her from the car to the hospital emergency room.

Presley’s medical journey began with little warning. The day after her FC United soccer team had a match in Wisconsin, she came down with flu-like symptoms. Bill said family members also experienced symptoms.

After taking some over-the-counter medication, Presley said she felt better.

The next day was spring break. Presley said she hadn’t slept or eaten, and was feeling sick to her stomach.

She took a nap on the couch, but when she woke up, she was disoriented and unable to remember the location of the bathroom in a house where she lived her whole life.

When the light was turned on, Presley’s lips were blue, her mother recalled.

“I just started yelling for Bill that we had to go,” Kristin said.

Presley was rushed to the ER at Endeavor Health Glenbrook Hospital, where, Kristin said, “it was like a TV show,” with about 30 people running in and out trying to stabilize her daughter.

She was quickly transferred to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge and then airlifted to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn for a 66 days of treatment, before a 28-day stay at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago.

Presley was diagnosed with septic cardiomyopathy — which can cause heart muscle dysfunction and weakness, leading to poor blood circulation, according to the National Institutes of Health — and developed a series of tiny blood clots. Her legs were amputated to save her life.

Presley’s physical recovery consists of a lot of exercise and practical movement.

“Some days were difficult. They had me going up and down flights of stairs and practicing doing normal things at home,” Presley said. “They did strengthening on my legs and my arms and my core, so that I’ll be more ready for prosthetics.”

Besides walking, there have been other adjustments. She has had to regain fine motor skills and learn how to text, at first using only voice to text. Shirley Ryan sent an IT specialist to adapt her phone and iPad for her needs.

Visits from the Northwestern women’s volleyball team and players from the Chicago White Sox also helped ease her recovery.

Throughout their ordeal, the Grimpes received support from friends and neighbors. While the Grimpes stayed at Ronald McDonald houses, family friend Frank Fiarito, who is the Northwest Suburban High School District 214 school board president, housed Presley’s older sister, Kendall. The Fiaritos helped Kendall through a period of finals, ACTs, AP tests and prom.

Now that Presley is back home, a daily evening meal train brings everything from Greek chicken to pasta e fagioli. The latter came courtesy of one of the meal train organizers, Carolyn Droll.

“It was kind of a no-brainer,” Droll said. “With them being home now, this was low-hanging fruit that we were happy to do for them.”

A frequent visitor is Droll’s daughter Gracie, part of a close-knit group of friends known as the Dunkin’ Crew.

They hang out Fridays at a nearby Dunkin’ Donuts. Kristin jokes they are “like old retired men.”

Looking to the future, there will be opportunities for Presley, who played basketball and ran track in addition to soccer, to take part in athletics. Shirley Ryan has an adaptive sports program. An amputee soccer league has reached out to the family, while a group is trying to start an adaptive hockey league.

There will be ongoing follow-up medical appointments with an Oak Lawn cardiologist, as doctors try to determine why her illness hit so hard.

“We’re all going to have quite a bit of PTSD the next time somebody gets a cold in this house,” Kristin said. “When I hear somebody coughing, I want to move as far away as possible.”

They all say they have much to be grateful for in the aftermath of Presley’s experience. They praise their friends and neighbors, whose acts of kindness included weeding the family’s lawn while they were away.

Bill and Kristin also said their employers gave them ample time to be with Presley during her recovery.

“People have been amazing with all of the support, all of the help,” Kristin said.

Meanwhile, Presley is looking forward to a summer reconnecting.

“It felt good to be home after being gone for so long,” she said. “I am excited to be able to spend more time with my friends.”