Entertainment
Hallmark actress stands, takes first steps after surviving fall from 5-story hospital balcony
The Hallmark Channel’s Mamie Laverock celebrated a milestone in her recovery after surviving a five-story fall from a hospital balcony in May.
The 20-year-old “When Calls the Heart” actress stood up and took her first steps in a video shared on her official Facebook page Friday.
“Thank you surgeon’s, thank you prayers, thank you Lord. Mamie has just taken her first steps,” the caption alongside the clip said.
As the video began, Laverock was sitting on a hospital bed with a patch over her left eye and both of her feet encased in aircast boots as two family members stood behind her before joining others who were behind the camera.
One medical staffer stood next to Laverock on her left side while another wheeled over a walker and placed it in front of her.
Laverock said, “I don’t know if I can still …”
“I’m here to help,” a staffer on her right told her.
The actress then placed her hands on the walker.
“So what you can do, you can even push off from the bed,” the same medic advised Laverock.
Laverock grabbed one of the walker’s arms and carefully stood up with her other hand on the bed as the group gathered behind the camera clapped and cheered.
The TV star smiled.
“Here’s to standing,” she said.
“It does feel really weird,” Lavarock added. “It feels really weird.”
“How does it feel on the feet?” one of the medical workers asked Laverock.
“It feels very wobbly,” she responded.
“It’s also kind of like you’re wearing ski boots,” one of Laverock’s family members remarked.
“Yeah, it is,” she agreed.
“Could you even separate out your feet a little bit there?” the medic to her right asked.
“Oh my gosh, the ski boots are really hard,” Laverock said with a nervous laugh. She then shuffled her knees and looked up with a smile.
“So, could you put all your weight on the right and a tiny bit on the left,” the medical worker said.
Turning to the medic on her left, Laverock said, ‘I’m just going to hold your hand just in case.”
One of Laverock’s family members told Laverock they were now FaceTiming with her father, John.
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“It feels really weird.”
“So, we’re just going to start and just get used to being upright because you haven’t been upright in a while,” the staffer told her.
“Yeah, I feel like I’m going to fall backward,” Laverock said.
“And you can just lean through the walker. That’s what it’s there for,” the medic told her.
“The Killing Game” actress then looked at the camera, asking, “Is Dad on FaceTime?”
“Hi Dad,” she said, smiling, while her father replied, “Hi sweetheart.”
“Look, I’m standing with the walker,” she told him. “All by myself.”
Laverock took a step forward with her left foot and took a few more steps.
“Oh my gosh! Feet moving. Moving feet!” a family member exclaimed as the video ended.
Laverock was placed on life support after falling off a balcony weeks after an undisclosed “medical emergency,” according to a GoFundMe page established by her family in May. The page is no longer accepting contributions.
At the time, her family wrote on the page, “Her body has been shattered. She has undergone two 11 hour surgeries with two doctors working on her, a three hour surgery and another surgery today. We have nothing but gratitude for the doctors and nurses who have been exemplary in her care since May 26.”
They added that Mamie is “enduring tremendous pain” but also “continues to not give up.”
“We can only hold onto the miracles of each day and continue to thank everyone for their prayers and marvel at the miracles of her story,” they shared online. “Our daughter loves her life and loves her family and is fighting hard everyday.”
Laverock had been in intensive treatment for two weeks prior to the fall and was “escorted out of a secure unit of the hospital and taken up to a balcony walkway from which she fell five stories.”
“She sustained life threatening injuries, has undergone multiple extensive surgeries, and is currently on life support,” her mother, Nicole Rockmann, and stepfather, Rob Compton, previously shared.
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Mamie was originally admitted to a hospital in Winnipeg, Canada, due to a “medical emergency” May 11, the GoFundMe stated. “Nicole was able to get there in time to save her life.
“Mamie has since been transferred to Hospital here in Vancouver. Her recovery is unclear at this time but she is alive and is showing signs of improvement.”
Two weeks later, her family wrote they were “devastated, in shock, at this intensely difficult time,” and wrote that Mamie was now on “life support.”
In June, Rockmann told the Los Angeles Times Laverock “opened her eyes” and is “doing well.”
“Let’s just hope this is the turnaround, and she’s going to get through this now. I couldn’t be happier that people reached out and cared. The story will be told,” Rockmann said.
On July 9, Laverock celebrated her 20th birthday at the hospital. She posted a photo of a balloon rainbow created by artist Evelyn Milanes, writing, “Thank you Evelyn. Your hard work and love created such beautiful balloon art.”
“My miracle birthday..somewhere over the rainbow,” she added.
The following day, Rockmann shared a photo in which she was hugging Laverock on her birthday.
“Mamie moved onto her stomach, pushed herself up and held onto me.. at that moment we realized we could have our first hug,” she wrote in the caption. “Thank you Rob for capturing this moment.”
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Fox News Digital’s Tracy Wright contributed to this report.