There's no doubt the life of Grace Turner, 14, of Lafayette is not what she or her parents envisioned. In August of 2014 she was in a go kart accident that should have killed her. Today, she's alive and on the mend and the family is speaking up about the importance of wearing helmets no matter the case.
"On August 24, 2014 we received that call that no parents ever want to get. Our 14 year old daughter had stayed the night at a friend's house and had been in a terrible accident," according to the Facebook page Acadiana Helmets 4Life. "Generally we are not "go-cart people" we don't ride ATV'S, Motorbikes, etc. ... Grace was with an adult and had her seat belt on."
But, she was not wearing a helmet. She sustained a severe traumatic closed head brain injury, she was unresponsive and intubated when her parents arrived and her doctors didn't seem hopeful. The family moved after three weeks to New Orleans Children's Hospital and despite the difficulties her condition improved. Two months after the accident should have ended her life she walked out of the New Orleans hospital and now she is living with a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).
"She suffered major nerve damage that has severely affected her sight. Her left side of her face had to be reconstructed with plates. She will continue to need surgery on her left eye. Grace will require an indefinite amount of physical, occupational and speech therapy. She must be supervised at all times as another fall or injury could be fatal. She is extremely lucky to have retained almost all of her cognitive ability, although the processing and focus is still an issue. She is still on numerous medications each day."
Despite the difficulties, Grace's family is working now to raise awareness and funding to help prevent the same fate their daughter has faced on that one choice — wearing a helmet. To learn more about the cause go to the Acadiana Helmets 4Life page here.