'It Just Shows How Much Good There Is In This World' Local Harford County Restaurant Using Grand Opening To Support Family Who's Daughter Was Hurt In Car Accident
FALLSTON, Md. (WJZ) -- A restaurant in Harford County is finally opening their doors in the coming days and they have chosen to kick off their Grand Opening by giving support to a local family after their daughter was hurt in a car accident.
Zack Trabbold, the Executive Chef, and Owner of The Local said he chose the name because they plan to support all local businesses with their produce, seafood, wooden charcuterie boards and more.
They decided to take their efforts a step further by helping a local mom who needs all the help she can get. "Hearing about this story, and knowing we are able to give back to something very meaningful and it just touched my heart when I heard about this incident with the car accident," said Trabbold.
A drunk driver hit the vehicle Alyssa Larkin and her daughter Rylee were in as they were driving home from a cousin's birthday party on Oct. 30, 2020.
The car was T-boned and Rylee suffered a traumatic brain injury along with several other major injuries. "Her femur was broken completely in half, her knee was shattered, her elbow and humerus was broken in half," said Larkin.
Rylee is wheelchair-bound and nonverbal after the accident. What Larkin said is the hardest to watch, is to see Rylee without full use of her emotions. She said, "I just want her to be able to smile again."
Rylee was in a coma for weeks after the accident. She had a trachea and dozens of other procedures as she has worked to recover.
There are still so many unanswered questions, like 'will Rylee ever be the same?' The answer is unclear, but Larkin refuses to give up. "I'm just going to keep fighting with her and showing her how amazing she is. We'll keep going" said Larkin.
Random acts of kindness like this donation from The Local are just one of many bits of kindness that make the world a little brighter for Larkin and Rylee.
"It just shows how much good there is in this world. There is this restaurant who, in the middle of their busy lives, cares so much about helping my family and my daughter get what she needs."
Larkin said she needs to buy Hyperbaric treatments and a Hoyer lift to help Rylee move from bed to her wheelchair, and the treatments could be influential in Rylee's recovery. A link to the family's GoFundMe is here: https://gofund.me/af1dcf82.
The soft opening for The Local is tomorrow and Thursday, but the Grand Opening on Aug. 31 will result in a donation to the family.
