Reynolds Family Medical Fund

Noralee, Jenna and Zoë were on their way to the dance studio when tragedy struck on the afternoon of November 28th . The Reynolds girls were involved in a horrific head on car accident caused by the other driver texting while driving.  

All were seriously injured and Noralee was airlifted to CMC Main.

wbtv.com/multiple-people-injured-one-airlifted-from-crash-in-union-county
 
We are so very thankful that they are all alive!! They will, however, have a long road of recovery ahead of them with extensive surgeries, physical therapy and doctor visits.  

 



To make matters worse, the driver at fault did not have car insurance and now the Reynolds family is faced with an exorbitant amount of expenses.  Their uninsured motorist insurance has been maxed out already and the medical bills keep piling up. Their medical bills are estimated to reach upwards of a million dollars. In addition to their hospitalizations, rehabilitation, years of physical therapy, in home care, doctor’s visits and $26,000 helicopter ride to Charlotte (denied by insurance), they now must equip their house for Noralee’s return home (handicap ramp, handicap alteration in home, hospital bed, etc).



Noralee is a full-time mom and part-time echo tech. Her income was used to help support Zoë's dance expenses. She is concerned how her length of time out of work may impact Zoë's dreams and is at a loss of words of how they are going to pay off the medical bills.


Noralee suffered traumatic injuries to her body as she was pinned in the car after being hit head on.  Her lengthy list of injuries include: Multiple fractures, including a compound fracture to right wrist and hand. Plates and screws were surgically placed to realign the bones. The right leg/ankle suffered multiple fractures and a shattered heel bone that erupted through the skin as well. The surgeons were able to save her foot, reassembling the pieces with plates and pins. Thankfully they were able to close the tissue around the heel. The left leg suffered multiple compound fractures. The tibia alone was broken in 5 places. Unfortunately, the tissue to the left leg was too traumatized to allow for a permanent solution. The bones were initially stabilized with an external fixator while giving the tissue time to heal. She has since had her second surgery to stabilize the bones internally with rods and plates as well as re-attaching her leg to her ankle. In addition, she also broke her sternum and suffered a concussion.  She is now back in a rehabilitation center working with therapists to figure out ways to transfer herself from her hospital bed to a wheelchair with the use of her one unbroken limb. She will not be able to bear any weight on her legs for 3 more months while the bones mend. That means she will be confined to a wheelchair for, at least, that time. She will then begin extensive therapy to retrain her legs how to walk.





 

Jenna (22)  is brilliant! She understands mathematics in ways that seem alien at times. She has one of those brains that just cuts through complex issues. Jenna is also a talented artist and choreographer. All of those talents combined have lead Jenna to pursue a career in animatronics. Jenna has been teaching English to Chinese children. These students are located in China, and Jenna's virtual classes start at 5:30 in the morning 6 days a week. Until the accident she had not missed a single class. Now she worries when her brain will allow her to return to her students. After the first of the year, she had planned to return to Pittsburgh to continue pursuing her engineering/robotics degree while working on an internship with an animatronic dinosaur. Those plans are on hold for now.




Jenna suffered a severe concussion with the collision. She was temporarily blind following impact. She also has had multiple fractures to left hand which is inoperable if she wants to have even semi normal movement and function. They were not able to fully realign her knuckle bone, so we are hopeful that she can still play guitar and piano when the cast comes off. Music has always been a great outlet for her, and hearing her play is an outlet for her family. 

 
She underwent laparoscopic surgery to uncover the source of trapped abdominal air. Along with the severe pain she suffered deep bruising and skin abrasions to her hips, neck, shoulders and chest. Jenna’s concussion is still plaguing her with headaches, burry vision and inability to focus. As a person who has relied so heavily on her intelligence, this has been very difficult for her.

 

Zoë (14) attends CATA as a Dance Academy student. This is her freshman year. She also dances at Steps n Motion as part of their pre professional company, Steps to Pro. Zoë has known that she was meant to be a dancer since she was two years old. She puts everything into this dream, and is so focused and determined at 14 years old. She has been awarded multiple titles, and placement into prestigious dance intensives. She is unbelievably upset to be missing a winter intensive in Miami, performing with her team at the New York City Dance Alliance and attending Master Classes and debuting a new contemporary pointe sol.

 



Zoë suffered a concussion, 5 broken ribs, a broken sternum, a broken clavicle and severe internal bleeding. Due to shock, Zoë had crawled across the back seat and out of the car, to lie on the grass.  She had laparoscopic and emergent surgery to stop the bleeding in her abdomen.  Her scar is approximately 8-9 inches along the midline. They repaired two holes in her intestine, a tear to the cecum, removed a portion of her intestine and reattached other internal structures that had ruptured.

 

Zoë has a lot of healing and physical therapy ahead of her, before she will be allowed to start training in dance again. She is terribly worried about her abdominal scar which, as a dancer, has the potential to impact her employment. She is more concerned about the damage to her core. It will take a lot of work to regain her strength so that she can return to her previous level of dance. She is also concerned about the concussion, which can affect her balance and recall. One of the things that allows Zoë to stand out from the crowd in Master Classes is the speed at which she can pick up new choreography, and the concussion may slow those processes down. She is such a tough kid though, and she won't let this trauma steal her dreams!

 
We are asking for your help by donating to this beautiful family in their time of desperation to ease the burden.

 

PLEASE REMEMBER TO NOT TEXT AND DRIVE.