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SALT LAKE CITY — Friends and family say it's a miracle that 19-month-old Alice Gray is still alive.
The young girl was acting strange on Dec. 4, including throwing up, hitting her head and acting sleepy. Her father, "Studio C" star Jason Gray, and mother decided to take her to the hospital instead of putting her down for a nap.
"They thought to bring her in just to be safe and thank goodness they did, because she was having an aneurysm and it probably saved her life," said fellow "Studio C" cast member Natalie Madsen.
The life-threatening brain aneurysm came out of nowhere, according to Madsen. Just two hours earlier, her children had been playing together with Alice.
After Alice was admitted into a Provo hospital, doctors quickly determined her brain was bleeding. She was transported to Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City by a medical helicopter to undergo an invasive brain surgery. Alice has been slowly improving over the past few weeks while in the hospital, but doctors expect she will need physical therapy and other intensive care.
"It's not something that can just be fixed with a quick surgery and be healed in a week," Madsen said. "It's going to be a long-term thing for them."
Members of the "Studio C" team have done their best to support the Gray family throughout the ordeal. They regularly visit the hospital and even set up a GoFundMe account to help cover medical costs since Alice's mother, Jenny Gray, had to stop working in order to take care of her young daughter.
In just two days, the fundraiser brought in more than $44,500 of its $48,300 goal. Madsen said people's generosity and kindness completely floored the cast, especially during the Christmas season when they know there are so many families that are struggling financially.
As part of "Studio C," the cast has been able to meet with families going through hard times in the hospital before. Multiple people have told them that watching the sketch comedy show while undergoing cancer treatments or waiting for test results helped them through a difficult time, according to Madsen.
"That's always been such a kind thing for people to say to us, but then to be on the receiving end where we kind of know now what it's like to be in a hospital and to be worried about whether or not your child is going to make it … has been incredibly humbling," she said.
Madsen described Alice as a sweet little girl who loves Minnie Mouse and bows. She took a video of Minnie Mouse during a recent trip to Disneyland and said Alice was excited to watch it.
"Her little personality is slowly coming back, where she's noticing things that make her happy," she said. "We saw her a couple of days ago and she was starting to smile on one side of her face, which was really encouraging."
