Support Cara’s Road to Recovery After Devastating Accident

Hello, my name is Catherine Markarian. On Wednesday, January 1, 2025, my twin sister Cara was in a terrible head-on motor vehicle accident. When paramedics arrived at the scene, she was unconscious and was not breathing. She had sustained serious head trauma and was rushed to the hospital where further examination revealed multiple other injuries, including a broken pelvis, broken nose, broken wrist, broken hand, broken teeth, and lacerations in her mouth and on other parts of her body. A CAT scan was performed by the Neurological Trauma team. The results showed that Cara had bleeding on both sides of the frontal lobe of her brain; however, the bleeding on the right side was more severe, and she needed immediate brain surgery.

During the surgery, the doctors removed a large portion of her skull in order to relieve the pressure on her brain and to stop the bleeding. Additionally, they repaired her broken nose. Post-operation, Cara required a blood transfusion, and she was induced into a sedative coma. Presently, she is still in a coma and is intubated to assist her breathing. My family and I have been informed that she will require additional surgeries to repair her pelvis, her hand, and her teeth. The doctors have also set a loose time frame of 3-6 months when they will replace the piece of her skull that was removed during her surgery. They are also running neurological tests to determine if any, or how much, brain damage was sustained. During the early hours of Monday, January 6th, Cara suffered a stroke. Her nurse told me that she also has muscle weakness in her right arm, and they aren’t clear what part of her brain is causing it. It could have been caused by a seizure.

Cara’s recovery has already been long and arduous. Her accident has flipped our family’s life upside down. We are now forced to make decisions that no family should have to make. As her medical proxy, I am kept awake as my mind and my emotions pull me in every direction. On top of the stress and sadness of all of this, there are a ton of things that need to be taken care of. Her rent needs to be paid, her utilities need to be paid, her other bills, etc. She is also going to need months of rehabilitation for her injuries. That is a long time to be out of work. She has two cats who she adores, and I have been making sure they are taken care of and fed. Those are even more expenses, and we haven’t even addressed medical expenses.

I’m also trying to work with our job so she doesn’t lose it. I don’t know if that’s possible, but I’m doing my best. I also don’t know what her mobility or mental status will be at the end of all of this, so I’m not even sure she will be able to work. She suffers from severe depression and has used ALL of her FMLA time. Because of this, she’s going to suffer a lot of financial difficulty which I am trying to avoid. I don’t want her to lose everything. That’s why I am creating this GoFundMe to try and keep everything afloat while she fights for her life.

My twin sister is the most genuine, sweet, caring person EVER. She is so kind and respectful to EVERYONE she comes across, especially to the people she loves. She is absolutely amazing, and I am here for her through everything. She has been through SO much. Just a few years ago, she was fighting breast cancer and had to have a double mastectomy, months of chemo, multiple surgeries, and more. She still takes cancer medications. She overcame that just to be struck by this.

If you are able to donate, thank you sincerely from the bottom of my heart. If you are unable to donate, please share and keep her in your thoughts. Either way, thank you so much.