Girl, 6, has both feet severed in freak cargo

Aug 26, 2023

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Warning: Graphic Content

A Virginia state trooper's 6-year-old daughter had both her feet severed in a horror freak accident involving a cargo belt she was playing with in a pickup truck.

Little Aubrey Scaletta — who recently underwent surgery to have her feet reattached — was riding in the back seat of the truck May 17 when she started fiddling with a ratchet strap, a belt used to secure cargo during transport, according to the the Virginia State Police Association.

"One end of the strap went out the window and became wrapped around the [vehicle's] drive shaft," reads the release, which was posted online asking for donations for Aubrey's dad, Trooper Daniel Scaletta, and their family after his daughter's "terrible accident."

"As the strap turned around the drive shaft, Aubrey was almost pulled out of the window and the tightening strap severed her feet."

The little girl's sister was with her and witnessed the grisly accident.

Aubrey was airlifted to Roanoke Memorial Hospital, where she underwent a six-hour emergency surgery to reattach her amputated feet, marking the beginning of what will be a long and painful medical journey.

"Both feet seem to be receiving good blood flow after being reattached, and as of this morning, doctors have taken off the ventilator," VSPA told local TV station WSLS last week.

In an update on Facebook posted Wednesday, Aubrey's mother, Lauren Wensel Scaletta, shared that her daughter was breathing on her own and was off her sedation medications.

The mom of three said the family is hopeful that Aubrey will be moved from the pediatric ICU, where she has been receiving treatment for the past two weeks, to the pediatric floor at the hospital.

The girl is scheduled to undergo skin-graft surgery June 9.

"Right now it looks like we may leave the hospital at the end of June in a wheelchair with elevated legs," Wensel Scaletta wrote. "The surgery team's goal is to have her walking with braces, walkers and things by Christmas!

"While we realize these things are not a guaranteed, it was nice to hear what could be," the mom added.

After being discharged from the hospital, Aubrey will require physical therapy at home or at an out-patient facility.

"Aubrey is one tough cookie and we are following her lead as best we can," Wensel Scaletta writes. "My princess monster is such a warrior."

A GoFundMe campaign that has been launched to provide financial support to the Scaletta family so far has drawn more than $53,000 in donations.