Beth always dreamed big

Like most other college students Beth and her friends had worked a long hard semester to get good grades to complete their path to graduation.  Going to school, working two jobs, and finding her way as an independent young woman was difficult but her spirit was never overwhelmed to achieve her dreams of graduating from the University of New Mexico in Business and maybe someday opening her own gallery for artists like herself. 

When her friends invited her for a vacation to Las Vegas, she had saved up enough money for a road trip with her friends.  Something that so many of us did at that age.  

June 7th, her and her friends wrapped up their Vegas Vacation and started back on the road home to New Mexico.  As they began their drive down the busy Las Vegas streets they never knew that in few brief moments their life would be changed forever.  Beth was in the back seat of her friends car when they were in the direct line of a police pursuit of a stolen vehicle.  The driver of the stolen vehicle had begun a high speed chase that ended with the stolen vehicle slamming into the back of the car Beth was in.  The vehicle was completely totaled from the rear (where Beth was sitting).  The Las Vegas Fire Department had to bring the jaws of life to cut Beth out from the wreckage. 

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Beth on her way to the hospital had to call her mother to tell her what had happened.  Beth was being rushed into the hospital not knowing why suddenly she couldn't feel her feet or wiggle her toes.  Her mother frantic with fear for her daughter was trying to book a flight to get to her baby.  I can only imagine what that feeling is like for any parent. 

Beth was diagnosed that she had damage to her neck and her back.  She was going to have a long road to recovery and would lose all the independence she had been working towards.  She had to move back home with her family so they could assist her in her year long journey to recovery. 

Unfortunately, Beth has now had to quit both her jobs, she has trouble focusing because of the trauma of the accident, and her academic adviser has told her that she will have to take a year off from school.  The doctors are sure that she can make a full recovery but Beth now feels like she will never gain that same independence she was working towards.  Her family is helping her as best they can financially but she knows that their sacrifices shouldn't be this great.  She recently received a notice that her car that she was working hard to pay off is in jeopardy of being taken and the medical bills are still mounting. 

Beth is an amazing artist and finds some peace now in her painting, but the colors are a little bit darker and not as vibrant.  She still has an infectious smile, but if you know Beth you see how she cringes every time the mail comes from the hospital and her mom tries her best to help but Beth still feels guilty about how a summer vacation changed her life in an instant. 


I hope that we can ease some of her anxiety by helping her raise funds to pay for some of the medical bills and possibly help her pay off her mounting debt.   One of her bosses recently sponsored a spaghetti dinner for her and her friends (they all worked at Denny's in Los Lunas).  They raised some funds to help them with their mounting costs but we can do more.