Darlwin Carlisle was locked in the attic of abandoned building by her mother, Darlwin Britt. She was found by a construction worker who was boarding up the building. After five days her legs were so frost-bitten they had to be amputated five inches below knee, yet Darlwin was more concerned about mother than her own condition. Gifts poured in from concerned people.
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Version from Chicago Tribune:
“Mother Visited Gary Girl Locked In Freezing House,” Nancy Ryan and Rob Karwath, January 23, 1988. < http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1988-01-23/news/8803240625_1_darlwin-britt-darlwin-carlisle-judge-richard-maroc >
Prosecutors said Friday that the 9-year-old girl whose lower legs were amputated because of frostbite after being abandoned without outer clothing, food or water in the locked bedroom of an unheated Gary, Indiana, home, has told them her mother visited her several times during her confinement.
Lake County State’s Atty. Jack Crawford said Darlwin Carlisle told authorities her mother, Darlwin Britt, 24, “kept telling her she would bring food and water, but never did.”
Crawford said that Britt, who has been charged with neglect of a dependent and is being held on $50,000 bond, “certainly was aware of the girl’s condition.”
Frostbite forced doctors at the University of Chicago’s Wyler Children’s Hospital to amputate Darlwin’s legs five inches below the knees Thursday.
Gary police had earlier reported that the girl told them she had been left in the freezing home for two days before she was found Sunday. But on Friday, Crawford said, “Based on what the girl told authorities, we know the mother deprived her of food, heat and water anywhere from three to five days.”
During a press conference following a court appearance by Britt in Lake County Superior Court in Crown Point, Crawford said additional charges might be filed against her. “We have reason to believe at this point, based on the evidence, that we’re dealing with an extraordinarily neglectful, irresponsible mother,” Crawford said. “Whether or not we’re dealing with someone who intentionally harmed or tried to kill her daughter, we don’t know at this point.”
The girl was found Sunday morning by a worker who heard her cries for help while boarding up the house. She was in a locked attic bedroom, its door barricaded with a refrigerator.
During the brief court hearing Friday, Britt, dressed in greenish-blue prison garb with her hair in braids, was questioned by Judge Richard Maroc, who appointed a public defender to defend her after Britt said she had no private attorney.
Britt, with eyes downcast, told the judge she lived with her parents in Gary and has not worked since last year, when she left her job as a cook for a fast-food restaurant. Maroc set the next hearing for next Friday.
The head of the team of five doctors who performed the three-hour operation on the girl said Thursday evening that the operation appeared to be a success and the girl was reported in fair condition.
But the head surgeon, Dr. Victoria Dvonch, said she and the other doctors won’t know until Saturday whether even more of Darlwin’s legs will have to be amputated. Doctors plan to perform additional surgery Saturday to determine whether there is more infected or dead tissue, Dvonch said.
Dvonch said Darlwin’s feet and lower legs were severely frostbitten and that there was dead tissue from the ankle down. “No miracle of modern medicine could have saved her feet,” she said.
“Clearly no one looked at her feet for at least a week,” she added.
If no additional surgery is needed, Dvonch said, Darlwin will be transferred to nearby La Rabida Children’s Hospital in about a week to begin physical and psychological therapy that could last up to a month.
Before Thursday’s operation, Darlwin asked the doctors to give a thank-you note to the hundreds of people who have written, called or visited her to offer gifts, donations or simply support.
“Thank you to all the wonderful people for their kind thoughts, gifts and cards. And helping me through my time of need,” she wrote on a single sheet of paper decorated with red heart stickers.
Before going into surgery, doctors said, Darlwin asked them, “Can I cry or should I be brave?” Doctors told her she would have to grieve for the loss of her feet.
Hospital officials presented Darlwin’s thank-you note as calls and letters continued to pour in to the hospital and the Lake County Department of Public Welfare, which has had legal custody of Darlwin since Sunday.
Since Tuesday, the hospital has received about 250 calls, 25 dolls and teddy bears and dozens of pledges of money to offset Darlwin’s medical bills, which are expected to exceed $25,000, said Susanne Banz, hospital administrator. “We’ve never seen this kind of public support and love for a patient,” she said.
Darlwin’s father, James Carlisle of Ft. Wayne, Indiana, visited his daughter at the hospital Thursday night with other family members. He declined comment except to say of his daughter, “I hope surgery will be the best thing for her.”
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“Three Stories Why All The Cases Of Abused Children?” Claude Lewis, Inquirer Editorial Board, January 25, 1988
In the Chicago area, Darlwin Carlisle, 9, had her legs amputated after construction workers boarding up a house found her locked in an attic bedroom of the unheated Gary, Indiana, residence. The child was left by her mother and was dehydrated and severely frostbitten.
Before the operation, Darlwin asked doctors to give a thank you note to the hundreds of people who have written, called or visited her to offer gifts, donations or support.
Her note read: “Thank you to all the wonderful people for their kind thoughts, gifts and cards. And helping me through my time of need.” Her note was decorated with red heart stickers. But she repeatedly asked to see her mother, who was being held in jail.
Her mother, Darlwin Britt, 24, faces a felony charge of abandoning her daughter. Britt did not immediately talk to authorities but police said they have enough information to prosecute her for leaving the girl in the house. The frostbite was so severe, doctors amputated both legs about 5 inches below her knees.
Before going into surgery, doctors said Darlwin asked: “Can I cry, or should I be brave?” Doctors told her she would have to grieve for the loss of her feet.
Doctors described the child as “amazingly mature. She’s been a delightful patient.”
Nobody said much about her mother. It’s a good thing, too. Darlwin already has enough trouble without the added burden of learning what other people and parents are saying about a mother who, for whatever reasons, would allow such a tragedy to befall her 9-year-old daughter.
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“Darlwin’s Mother Enters Guilty Plea,” May 08, 1988; < http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1988-05-08/news/8803150184_1_plea-darlwin-carlisle-darlwin-britt >
Darlwin Britt, the Gary woman who was charged with abandoning her 9-year-old daughter in an unheated house, forcing the girl to undergo amputation of her frostbitten legs, has pleaded guilty to a charge of child neglect by failing to provide medical care. Britt, 25, entered the plea before Lake County (Indiana) Superior Court Judge Richard Maroc, who scheduled a court hearing for May 27 to rule on the plea and pass sentence. She entered the plea as part of an agreement between her attorney and prosecutors under which she would be sentenced to 14 years in prison. During Friday’s hearing, Britt admitted leaving her daughter, Darlwin Carlisle, in the attic. She testified that she noticed the girl’s legs were darkening and that she might need medical attention, but never sought it.
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“Darlwin Going Back To Gary”: Great-grandmother To Care For 9-year-old Who Lost Legs,” Rob Karwath., April 05, 1988; < http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1988-04-05/news/8803060321_1_katie-carlisle-darlwin-britt-darlwin-carlisle >.
Despite calls from as far away as Florida and Oregon from persons seeking to adopt her, Darlwin Carlisle will return to Gary to live with her great-grandmother, officials said Monday.
Darlwin, the 9-year-old girl whose frostbitten lower legs were amputated after she was found barricaded in an unheated Gary house, will be placed with her paternal great-grandmother, Katie Carlisle of Gary, said Lillian L. Young, district director for the Indiana Department of Public Welfare in Gary.
“This is our first choice,” Young said. “We always try to keep children in families.”
The Lake County, Indiana, Department of Public Welfare has had temporary custody of Darlwin since Jan. 17, when Gary police found her in the attic of the unheated house.
A refrigerator had been moved in front of the attic door to keep Darlwin in, police said. Lake County prosecutors said Darlwin’s mother, Darlwin Britt, 24, of Gary, left her daughter in the house for three to five days without heat, food or water.
Four days after police found Darlwin, doctors had to amputate her legs below the knees. Darlwin Britt remains in Lake County Jail awaiting trial on felony child neglect charges.
Lake County welfare officials will place Darlwin with her great-grandmother as soon as Darlwin completes therapy to adjust to her artificial legs, Young said. The great-grandmother also must learn about Darlwin’s artificial legs, she said.
Darlwin’s well-publicized story prompted many calls from persons seeking to adopt her, said Harold Barnwell, director of child welfare services for the Lake County Welfare Department.
“I’ve had over 20 calls from persons offering their homes,” Barnwell said. “They’ve come from as far away as Tampa, Connecticut, Portland, Ore., and New York.”
But Barnwell said welfare officials sought from the start to place Darlwin with a relative. Katie Carlisle is the grandmother of Darlwin’s father, James Carlisle of Ft. Wayne, Young said.
Katie Carlisle was unavailable for comment Monday, but a spokeswoman at Chicago’s La Rabida Children’s Hospital and Research Center, where Darlwin has been recovering well enough to ride a bike and roller skate, said Katie Carlisle is one of Darlwin’s regular visitors.
“She’s maintained a relationship and has been real steady about it,” said Kris Bangert, the spokeswoman.
The plan to place Darlwin with her great-grandmother was approved by a Lake County judge who also made Darlwin a ward of Indiana at least until age 18, Young said.
“When she’s 18, we could extend the wardship until she’s 21,” Young said. “It all depends on how well she does.
“We’ll visit her whenever we feel the need is there. We’re going to be available to help her.”