Arizona girl injured in mine returns home

KINGMAN, Ariz. -- A 10-year-old girl who survived a plunge down a mine shaft that claimed the life of her sister on Labor Day beamed during a welcome-home celebration in her honor Friday in Kingman.

Public safety officials, dignitaries and other well-wishers turned out to greet Casie Hicks of Chloride the day after her discharge from University Medical Center in Las Vegas.

"All of the people of Kingman have been pulling for you, and they're so happy that you got out of the hospital," Mayor Lester Byram said, bending down to address Casie who was in a wheelchair. "Keep doing what your doctors say and pretty soon you'll be running and playing again."

Casie's father, Allen Dakin, said doctors told Casie that she will spend another four weeks recovering from a badly broken left leg suffered when she and her sister, Rikki Howard, 13, fell 125 feet into an abandoned mine while riding an ATV. Rikki died at the scene before rescuers arrived.

Titanium pins were placed in the broken bone and doctors want Casie to keep all pressure off the leg while the bone heals, Dakin said.

Otherwise, she's fine and in good spirits.

"I'm feeling good," Casie said, happy to have left the hospital. "It felt really good, and I don't have to eat the nasty food all the time."

Casie said she won't return to school until she's able to walk again.

Mohave County Sheriff Tom Sheahan introduced Casie to some of the agency's Search And Rescue personnel who worked more than 12 hours to get her out of the mine.

"I couldn't be prouder of my search and rescue organization and all the people that are a part of it," the sheriff said.

"Casie is the real hero of all this," search coordinator Rob McCuen said. "She's one tough little girl, and we're just thankful she got to come home."

Citizens and state mine inspector Joe Hart are using the accident as an illustration of the need for a campaign to seal thousands of abandoned mines. The incident also triggered numerous charity efforts to raise money for the family coping with the death of one daughter and the nearly five-week-long hospitalization of the other.

"I don't have enough words to say thank you to everybody," said Casie's mother, Caroline Booker. "I've stayed most of the time at the hospital and didn't get to thank everybody, and my heart goes out to all of you."

During the welcome home celebration hosted in downtown Kingman by a pair of local radio stations, Casie was presented Missy, a 14 year-old quarterhorse donated by the Harmony in Motion Ranch in nearby Valle Vista. She was also promised a future trip to Disneyland.