Hi there, my name is Andrea. Sweet Madelyn is my best friend and she was in a hit-and-run accident a couple nights ago when she was taking her dog out to potty—she sustained multiple injuries and is currently in the ICU, thankfully none that are life-threatening. The impact from the car fractured her femur, neck, and hand. She has a concussion, laceration to her liver, and punctured lung, along with a plethora of scrapes, cuts, and bruises. Her dog Silver who has been her pal of over seven years died from the accident.

The drunk who hit her drove off to leave her for dead in a ditch. Thankfully he was caught and arrested in a matter of a few hours after it all happened. She could have easily died, and it’s a miracle she isn’t hurt even worse. She’s broken up but is a tough cookie, she’s going to make a full recovery. 

Her life for the next year is going to drastically change with need for many healthcare appointments, PT, OT, accommodating medical supplies, and more. The man who hit her was a young, unlicensed/uninsured drunk driver. He has a history of a DUI and has been in custody since the accident with multiple charges related to the accident. Given this, there is no assurance moving forward that her medical bills are covered. Anything that you can donate would make a difference, I would appreciate it so much, and I know she and her family would too. We love our beautiful girl and we are so glad that she is with us—so many things could have happened where the unimaginable could have happened. God was watching over her.

So long as Madelyn is okay with it, I will continue to post updates over the next few days of how she is doing.

UPDATE 4/30/22:

Hi everybody, I have some really great updates to share with you about Madelyn. For the sake of making the most sense of it all, I will list it chronologically.

 4/26 (the day after the accident): Madelyn had surgery on her fractured femur where they put a rod in to help stabilize the break and also to allow her to start bearing weight on it as she tolerates.

 4/27: She was able to transition down to a medical unit by night time as she was already getting up and working with PT! She has been absolutely crushing it. An MRI was performed on her cervical fracture, and it was deems a clean break that did not hurt her spinal cord. Though she will need to keep a brace on it for the next few months, it is going to heal naturally without surgical intervention. In terms of other injuries such as her lacerated liver and punctured lung, they are all stable enough that they will heal on their own! She continues to have very severe pain but she has been receiving medication and getting a lot of rest, which has helped. 

 4/28: Madelyn had a lot of blood loss from the accident and needed a couple blood transfusions. That brought a lot of color back to her face and definitely helped her perk up, as she has still been very tired. Though bearing weight on her broken leg has still been very painful and challenging, she was able to walk about 10 feet with PT!! 

 4/29: Her wounds continue to look better and better, blood count and labs have been very stable. She’s becoming more awake and able to move better with each day, again working with PT and walking a good distance. They plan to transition her to their acute rehabilitation facility for up to 2 weeks for intensive PT/OT to help her regain her strength, mobility, and range of motion.  

4/30: Madelyn is now in the rehab unit! She has a really nice room that is accommodating for a family member to stay overnight with her for the next week or two that she will be there. She continues to get stronger and pain is slowly improving.

 I want to say a big thank you to every single one of you who has donated to the GoFundMe and has shared the post—we have officially raised over 5k!! Madelyn’s sister Jacquelyn has been networking with others with her Venmo and cash apps for those who prefer to donate there—100% of the proceeds are going to go to Madelyn to help her get back on her feet. It’s been incredible to see so many reach out and donate, we have some really kind souls who have shown genuine care for our girl and it means so much to us.

 Kruise Kalispell has created an event for Madelyn on the 6th of May! They will meet at 6pm at the Kmart parking lot. They plan on also raising donations for Madelyn and her family, which is incredibly sweet of them. Jacquelyn and I have discussed and planned to make a 5k run in honor of Madelyn later this summer, to raise awareness of drunk driving and run in place for her (prior to the accident, Madelyn was an avid runner). As we figure plans out, we will post the event on Facebook.

 Again, thank you everybody, so much. Madelyn sees and appreciates everything that you have done for her!