Eliza's Road to Recovery

On Sunday, May 15th, my mom (Ann), dad (Lucien), my sister (Eliza) and I (Anna) attended a family wedding in Newport, Rhode Island. We had taken two cars up, and Eliza and my dad planned to drive home together early on Monday morning. My mom and I were leaving later in the day with my grandparents. Thirty minutes into the trip, my dad lost control of the car and it veered off the road, over an embankment and into a brook. My mom and I were woken by a phone call with my dad’s panicked voice screaming there was a bad accident.

Thirty minutes later, we were in Rhode Island Hospital being greeted by a social worker who informed us that my dad was being treated in the ER but Eliza was in a different section of the hospital. Eliza was undergoing emergency surgery to save her life.

The impact of the crash caused significant abdominal damage. The vena cava was torn from her liver and her spleen was severed. After three surgeries in the last few days, Eliza has lost her spleen, gallbladder and appendix. Forty percent of her liver has been removed and the vena cava has been reattached. Miraculously there have been no brain or spinal injuries.

The doctors told us that only 12 people in the last 110 years have survived this type of injury but I was sure Eliza would be number 13 because that was always my lucky number. On May 18th, National Trauma Survivors Day, Eliza was the 13th person in 110 years of medical history to have survived this type of injury. While Eliza was in surgery I opened her phone to listen to some of her music and to retrieve messages from friends. As I typed in her passcode it struck me that Eliza’s passcode was 1313.

Eliza came through her three surgeries this week like a warrior and she has at least one more surgery next week. We are not out of the woods. She is still in the Trauma Intensive Care Unit, but every day is a healing day and she is a young strong woman that has the will to survive.

I am starting this Go Fund Me Page for Eliza to aid with medical and recovery costs. Eliza is my world, we share more than a sister bond - we are best friends. She is a bright presence that lights up every room with her humor, sass, and spunk. This is going to be a long journey. The doctors told us to expect that Eliza will remain at RI hospital for another couple months until she can begin treatment at a rehab facility closer to home and to anticipate a full year for recovery.

We have had hundreds of people praying for Eliza and sending healing energy her way. We feel surrounded by love and support and we cannot thank you all enough.