Duluth Woman Recovering After Being Dragged, Pinned By Car
DULUTH, Minn. (WCCO) -- Alyssa Donahue has long known what her she wanted to do with her life. Just didn't expect the turn her future plans had in store.
"I always wanted to be a nurse," she said.
Donahue had dreams of caring for the sick and injured ever since her mother survived cancer, and sadly, her father died from it. In fact, the 19-year-old had been enrolled in the nursing program at Lake Superior College in Duluth this fall.
Unfortunately for Donahue, she is now now the patient requiring care, after being seriously injured in a freak accident at her Duluth home.
"I pushed it out of our driveway, we have a really steep driveway," she said.
Alyssa's car battery was dead, so she was pushing it out of the garage. Suddenly, the car's momentum pulled her underneath. She was dragged 50 feet down the steep driveway and pinned.
Fortunately, her brother Jake witnessed the accident and immediately called for help. Duluth firefighters were able to quickly extricate Donahue, and she was rushed to St. Mary's Essentia Health emergency room.
"I looked down at me under the car and could see bone sticking out through my skin -- it was broken," Donahue said.
Her injuries are severe -- broken legs, fractured pelvis, bruises and abrasions over 80 percent of her body.
Instead of going back to school, she'll have months of difficult therapy to learn to walk again. She worries about the loss of the $1,500 in tuition she may not get back, and the outstanding school loans now that she can no longer work as a certified nursing assistant.
"I'm staying here three or four weeks in physical therapy, just getting out of bed hurts so bad," Donahue said.
Her hospital room is filled with colorful bouquets and get well wishes. Bruised and broken, she knows it could have been so much worse and she's lucky to be alive, but mostly, she's thinking of her late father, Jon.
"I feel he was there, because I feel I would've died if it wasn't for him," Donahue said.
Donahue lost her dad to cancer in 2014. She insists he was looking down on her, knowing that his daughter will become a great nurse some day. That she most certainly will, after seeing care giving from the patient's side.
If you would like to help, friends have established a GoFundMe page to help Alyssa with her mounting school and medical costs.
