18 Year old girl hit by drunk driver needs help!

Aloha~

My name is Mikelle Best Reaves and I am raising funds for my precious niece Madeline Mikelle Best.

Madeline (Maddie) was unfortunately involved in a terrible car accident last Tuesday September 9th and her family needs some support. While driving home around 4:00pm she was hit by a drunk driver (inebriated over 5 times the legal limit), totaling Madeline’s car and sending her to the ER. The girl who hit her came barreling full speed down the freeway exit, didn’t slow down at all, crossed four lanes on 7th east, hit the center median which sent the drunk drivers car airborne right into Madelines drivers side door. Madeline does not remember what happened but many bystanders witnessed the accident and the other driver was apparently uninjured and taken right to jail, but released on bail the same night. Madeline has been in and out of the hospital ever since. We just got the unfortunate news that Madeline does in fact has a traumatic brain injury, and she will also need to get surgery on her left ear due to broken bones caused by the accident that are causing the loss of hearing.

We are so grateful and lucky that Madeline is alive, but she is struggling very much right now and her mom and dad are in need of support. She has a terrible concussion, doesn’t remember anything that happened, has cuts and bruises all over her face, scalp, shoulder, and her whole body hurts terribly. It has been over a week now and she can barely walk and needs lots of support to move around at all. We tried to have her use a walker but she has such bad vertigo and she is so weak that she is unable to use it so far. She also has a really bad sensitivity to light and has had really bad headaches since being hit. She has been bed ridden since, and has been in complete and total pain all over her body since being hit. Her left shoulder is in a continual state of extreme pain making it very difficult to sleep. She can’t even sit up in the bath or the bed for more than a few minutes because the vertigo is so extreme that she almost passes out if she has to sit up at all. She will begin her physical therapy tomorrow and also will start doing work with the concussion clinic tomorrow as well.

She had an MRI and had some hemorrhaging in the left superior frontal gyrus and right subinsular white matter. It is still unknown what the path of healing will be and how her body will respond to this trauma. She has been extremely dizzy, in pain and she threw up for 4 days straight and was unable to keep down any food or water. The nausea has mostly subsided now and she can keep down little bits of food and water. Since being hit, she cannot hear out of her left ear which is extremely traumatizing since she is a prolific singer that has won first place awards for singing for the last 10 years in almost ever competition she has been in. She continually competes and wins not only in her age brackets, but wins in the older age brackets as well. She is outstanding. She was just about to apply to Juilliard this month. Not being able to hear from one ear has the potential to disrupt her truest passion. Singing is her medicine. Fingers crossed that the surgery goes well for her ear. We are all praying that her hearing comes back quickly, fully and with grace and ease and that she will be able to sing without disruption.

This has been deeply traumatizing for her and her family. She has done her best to have a good attitude about this so far but the stress of not being able to go back to school at all (maybe weeks or months until she is cleared by her doctor to go back) has left her deeply saddened. She also just landed the lead role in the production “mean girls” and does not know now if she will be able to be in the play. This has been very emotionally taxing on her and her family.

Madeline has been instructed by the doctor to have the least amount of stimulation as possible for the next few weeks/months. She isn’t even supposed to look at screens at all because of the head trauma so she just has to lay in bed all day basically doing nothing. Even reading is challenging because it’s hard for her to hold a book while laying down.

Madeline is only 18 years old and has her whole life ahead of her so we are all praying that she makes a 110% recovery. Please send as many prayers of love and healing to this bright, beautiful and wonderful little soul. She never speaks an unkind word about anyone, continually loves and supports those around her, and is one of the kindest people on this planet. She is a true earth angel.

These funds will help her with medical bills, food, and any other needs the family has with losing so much work moving forward. Sending so much love to her mom and dad who have been giving Maddie full time care around the clock since this happened. Bravo mom and dad. They have had to take a lot of time off work so far, and we are still unsure of what’s to come. What we do know is the bills are racking up quickly and it’s a very stressful time for these sweet and loving people. Because Madeline is unable to get out of bed, she needs 100% full time care. This has already caused her family to come out of pocket for all the extra needs so far and has placed a large financial strain on the family.

Every donation large or small is received with so much gratitude and love beyond measure. Thank you for supporting Madeline, her mom Chelsa and her dad John during this incredibly difficult time. May any donation made come back to you 10 fold.

Mahalo nui loa

❤️