OKEECHOBEE — Eight months after the fire that claimed her grandmother’s life and left her hospitalized, 10-year-old Trisha Entry is making her way toward a full recovery. In July of 2020, Trisha spent the night with her grandparents in their home behind the rodeo grounds as she often did. The next morning July 25, a fire started at her grandparents’ home, and Trisha and her grandmother, Lydia Entry were trapped in the bathroom. When firefighters were able to get to them, they found Trisha cradled in her grandmother’s arms, and sadly, her grandmother had passed away.

Trisha was life flighted to Miami and was in extremely critical condition. Her mom, Patty, said Trisha was on life support and was being given special medicines to rid her body of the arsenic in her system from the smoke inhalation. On day seven of her hospitalization, Trisha took a turn for the worse and was put into a medically induced coma. She had burns on her arms, legs, back, back of her neck, behind her ear and on the back of her head. The condition of her lungs was considered her worst problem though. When a chest x-ray was taken, they could not even see her ribs, because the soot inside her lungs was so thick, said Patty.

Trisha has had to fight since the day she was born, when doctors discovered seven different heart defects. Patty said she knew something was wrong when she was 32-weeks pregnant. She was given a non-stress test and told to push a button every time she felt the baby move, but the baby was barely moving. In addition, the baby’s heart rate kept dropping, so they took Patty to the hospital. Trisha was born after an emergency C-section and weighed 3lb. 6oz. She was 15 inches long. Four days after birth, she was being air lifted to Miami Children’s Hospital to have open heart surgery. Less than a month later, she was back in the operating room. The family stayed in Miami for about a month and then convinced the hospital to send her back to Bethesda. Trisha still has some issues with her heart and has to visit her cardiologist yearly, but has been able to participate in most activities other girls her age can do.

At 18 months old, Trisha got very sick, kept throwing up and had a fever. After the hospital did blood work, they found her white blood count was almost non-existent. It turned out she had a bad case of the flu on top of mono. At the hospital, the crib she was supposed to be placed in did not work properly. The side would not lock in position, so Patty held Trisha while the nurse looked for another crib. While she held her, Trisha had a 45-minute seizure. “It was from the high fever,” said Patty. She spent about a week and a half in the hospital, and while there, they discovered she had Von Willebrand’s Disorder which is an inherited bleeding disorder. It has some similarity to Hemophilia but is a completely different disease.

Trisha turned 10 while she was in the hospital and was disappointed not to be able to have a big party, but many, many of her friends and family dressed in purple, Trisha’s favorite color, and sent birthday videos to her wishing her a happy birthday. A gathering at the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office had over a hundred participants.

Each Thursday while she was hospitalized, her elementary school, Everglades, had a “T’s Army” day, and everyone was encouraged to wear purple in support of the little girl.

In November, after four months in the hospital and rehab, recovering from the burns and smoke inhalation, learning to walk, talk, sit, stand, eat real food and keep her balance, Trisha was finally able to come home. At first, she was in a wheelchair, but she knew from the beginning the wheelchair was only for long trips. She soon got her walker and began using it. Now, she often walks without the help of the walker. She is getting stronger every day. She has been walking on a treadmill and sets goals for herself and tries to beat them every day. Her mom calls her a rock star.

One of the things Trisha was most excited about when she was finally able to come home was going to see her friends at cheer. Trisha has been in cheer since she was a toddler and absolutely loves it. Her coach, Victoria Smith, and Trisha’s cheer friends have been very supportive of Trisha, and though she can’t really do all the things she used to do yet, she has started back with private lessons at Okeechobee Xplosion.

In December, Trisha had an appointment with her cardiologist, and her family was relieved to find the fire caused no damage to her heart at all.

Patty and J.R. Are thankful to everyone who had any part in caring for Trisha, from the first responders to the helicopter pilot to the doctors and nurses and the people back home praying for Trisha and organizing fundraisers. Most of all, Patty is thankful for her mother-in-law, who Patty said saved Trisha’s life. “It’s because of her I still have my baby girl,” she said. “I will never forget that.”