'When Calls the Heart': Mamie Laverock opens her eyes, mom says

Mamie Laverock sitting on a pew in an episode of "When Calls the Heart"

By Nardine SaadStaff Writer

May 30, 2024 Updated 2:09 PM PT

“When Calls the Heart” actor Mamie Laverock has opened her eyes and is “doing well” after a five-story fall from a hospital walkway resulting in her being placed on life support, her family says.

“Mamie just opened her eyes,” her mother Nicole Rockmann said through tears Thursday during a phone interview. “Let’s just hope this is the turnaround and she’s going to get through this now. I couldn’t be happier that people reached out and cared. The story will be told.”

The 19-year-old suffered an undisclosed medical emergency May 11 that required her mother to travel to Winnipeg “in time to save her life,” the family wrote earlier this week on a GoFundMe page launched for the Hallmark Channel actor.

Laverock, who played nursing student Rosaleen Sullivan in “When Calls the Heart,” was then transported to a hospital in Vancouver. At the time, her parents launched the campaign to raise about $18,300 ($25,000 Canadian) and said that although Lavelock’s recovery is unclear, she is “alive and is showing signs of improvement.” One of Laverock’s sisters and father, John Laverock, were with her when she opened her eyes, her mother said.

Rockmann said Thursday that her daughter remained on life support after the fall at St. Paul’s Hospital, the same hospital where the actor was born, but was off a ventilator after undergoing several multi-hour surgeries. On Friday, she clarified that Laverock was transferred to a trauma receiving center and was no longer being treated at St. Paul’s.

She did not elaborate on the injuries her daughter sustained but said that Laverock’s body was “shattered” and that she was in “tremendous pain.” She described her daughter as “aware” and able to squeeze her mother’s hand but also said she required sedation to stay still while recovering from her surgeries.

“This is an absolute miracle and there will be accountability,” Rockmann said, blaming the hospital where Laverock fell while she was allegedly being escorted from a secure unit at the healthcare facility. The fall, she said, was not “intended” and was not a suicide attempt. The family plans to take legal action against St. Paul’s, she added, describing potential legal action only as a “negligence-type case.”

“We have a case. All we care about is that Mamie can make a recovery and that she’s alive and that she’s fighting and that she’s strong. It’s unbelievable that she’s with us.”

Ann Gibbon, a spokesperson for Providence Health Care, which operates St. Paul’s Hospital, confirmed that “an incident happened” at the hospital but could not comment on the particulars due to patient privacy.

“In cases related to patient safety, an internal critical incident review is conducted to determine exactly what happened and to make recommendations for improved patient safety,” Gibbon said. “Our hearts go out to the patient, family, and all affected by this event, and we offer our best wishes for a full recovery.”

According to the family’s GoFundMe page, set up by Rockmann and her husband Rob Compton, Laverock was being escorted out of a secure unit at the hospital and “taken up to a balcony walkway from which she fell five stories.”

“We are trying to go every day to support her. Any contributions would help us be by her side. But this could be upwards of a month or more,” the family said. “We are all devastated, in shock, at this intensely difficult time.”

Rockmann on Friday confirmed that Laverock is a “spiritual person” and hoped that her story would be an “extraordinary confirmation of faith.”

After the fall, Laverock’s “When Calls the Heart” co-stars rallied behind the family and asked others to do the same. Series star Erin Krakow on Monday urged her Instagram followers to raise funds, writing, “I just donated. If you have the means to do so, I hope you will too.”

Johannah Newmarch, who plays Laverock’s on-screen mom, also showed her support on Monday in a post on X.

“I love this family, my heart is broken. A devastating time for all who care for Mamie. Please help if you can. They need all the support they can get to make it through this #hearties,” she tweeted.

“We are deeply saddened to hear the news about Mamie. As a beloved member of our When Calls the Heart community, we wish her and her family peace, comfort, and many prayers during this difficult time,” a spokesperson for Hallmark Media said Tuesday in a statement to The Times.

The Hallmark Channel on Wednesday posted a similar statement on Instagram, adding that it had donated to the fundraiser. “When Calls the Heart” actors Andrea Brooks and Nicolina Pavek and Hallmark actor Andrew Walker shared their support in the comments section of the post.

As of 8 a.m. Thursday, the GoFundMe had exceeded its stated goal and raised more than $23,600 ($32,333 Canadian).

In a later update, the family also said that the actor was “out of her big surgeries” and the doctors say “she is doing well.”

“It’s impossible for us to be happier. Thank you all for your support,” the GoFundMe page said.

Laverock’s other credits include the Hallmark original “Wedding of Dreams,” the 2017 horror film “The Hollow Child,” Netflix’s “A Series of Unfortunate Events” and the 2020 Lifetime movie “Spotlight on Christmas.”

She landed her first professional role in the 2012 rom-com “This Means War” starring Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine and Tom Hardy, but her improvised appearance didn’t make the final cut, according to a 2018 interview she gave to the Media From the Heart blog.

Mamie Laverock opens her eyes after surviving 5-story fall that was not ‘intended,’ mom says

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