Help Katherine Recover from Severe Brain Injury

Co-organized

Jason Zheng and 4 others are organizing this fundraiser on behalf of Xiaoya Deng.

Donation protected

Everyone who has met Katherine (Xiaoya Deng) knows she's cute, kind, loving, overly-talented and intelligent. For me, she is my girlfriend, partner-in-crime and she completes my life. I can see no one else I want to be with. We had discuss being married and I was ready to propose to her this year as we were also starting to look for our first home together. She means everything to me and I will do everything I can to see to her recovery.

On July 4th in the early morning in Prospect Park, she was involved in a tragic accident on her bike with a pedestrian. The pedestrian had stepped in front of her while she was in the bike lane, and she was ejected from the bike and landed heavily on her head first. Despite wearing a helmet, the injury was very severe and she was rushed to the hospital under level 1 trauma - the highest level of trauma care. This ride was meant to be a casual ride like any other day in the park. The plan after the ride was to enjoy July 4th celebration with my family. I was a few hundred feet in front of her when I heard this loud crash but didn't realize she was involved in it. I waited for her to come and only when another cyclist rode to me was I informed she was involved. I ran back as quick as I could and as I saw her on the ground, bloody and bleeding from her mouth, nose and ears; I knew it was serious. Immense sadness and emotional pain struck me as she laid there in the hands and arms of runners, who had witness the accident, propping her head up. I felt hopeless as she didn't respond to any commands or calling to her name. No meaningful eye movement or arm movements observed. Just her trying to hold on to her breathing. At the point of writing this, I am still struggling and tremoring over the details of this traumatic event.

Katherine came to the US in hopes of completing her Master's in Statistics and pursuing a career in a related field in China after a short stint in the US. When she met me, her plans to stay in the US became certain as we grew to love each other and become interdependent. We protected each other, and developed and matured together. She has no immediate family in the US, and she became figuratively part of my family in the four years we've been together.

Since July 4th, she's still in the ICU and a craniectomy was performed immediately to relieve pressure and further brain damage. The first 3-4 days were immensely stressful as it was not certain how much worse the swelling in her brain could impact her brain and if she would live through it. On day 9, the CT indicated her swelling had started going down but still has weeks to go for the excess blood to be absorbed. As of today July 16th, she had made minor progress to gain consciousness and still demonstrate some abnormal movements in her right arm. Every night I've stayed over in the hospital were immensely stressful and I plan on continue staying overnight still going forward to ensure I keep track of her progress and she gets the care she needs.

If she can continue improving and come off the ventilator and other medications, we're hoping she can proceed to rehabilitation to gain back a quality of life. The fund donated here will help with the cost of rehabilitation for her and any unforseen and non-covered medical costs.

In addition, her parents will be arriving from China to the US shortly on July 19th. This will be their first visit to the US and I will need to help them acclimate to the different lifestyle and care for Katherine while they're here. For them , they never expected their first visit to the US would involve caring for their only child in the hospital. I wouldn't be able to fully comprehend the pain and helplessness they're in right now. The fund here will also assist in paying for their stay here and any additional cost to handle the adjustment in taking care of Katherine. I want to give every possible chance she can get so that she can recover.

Katherine YouTube Channel:

https://youtube.com/channel/UCU0-dHhGwP20ozLvwhdVOdA