A 27-year-old Kalispell woman is fighting for her life in a Seattle hospital after being injured in a snowmobile accident over the weekend.
Ashley Gilbert was snowmobiling with her boyfriend and some friends on Jan. 8 when she crashed near Canyon Creek Road north of Columbia Falls. Gilbert suffered an atlanto-occipital dislocation, an extreme spinal cord injury that is also know as an internal decapitation, among other injuries.
Gilbert’s boyfriend was also on the snowmobile and suffered a concussion, according to Ashley Gilbert’s sister Sarah.
Ashley was rushed to Kalispell Regional Medical Center before being flown to a hospital in Seattle. On Monday she had an emergency surgery and Sarah said she is currently in stable condition. Sarah said it’s a “miracle” her older sister has made it this far, noting that only 30 percent of people who suffer from an internal decapitation survive.
The family has started a GoFundMe page to raise money to help cover Ashley’s medical bills and care for her 1-year-old son Paxton.