CENTER LINE, Mich. (WXYZ) — A 10-year-old girl is still fighting to heal six months after an SUV crashed into her Center Line bedroom while she slept, launching her into the front yard and leaving her with serious injuries.
Watch Peter Maxwell's video report:
In October, 20-year-old Carris Adell Wade crashed into the Macomb County home. Wade fled the scene but was later arrested by police.
"As a mom, you always try to prepare for the worst," Rachel Wright said.
The impact of the crash threw Laila Breitshtrus, who was 9 years old at the time, outside the home. The crash narrowly missed her 28-month-old sister.
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"It wasn't a good feeling. It changed too much," Breitshtrus said.
The crash left Breitshtrus with a fractured spine and internal injuries. Wright said the scars you cannot see have been the hardest to heal.
"Everything is really just day by day," Wright said.
Breitshtrus is now trying to feel like a kid again, but the road forward is filled with doctor visits and therapy.
"If I do too many things at once, like I'll clean my room and do my chores and not take breaks, my back...like my lower tailbone will start to hurt," Breitshtrus said.
I asked Wright about her daughter's recovery.
"She's never going to be 100 percent, and that's life, unfortunately, things happen. She knows we know we can't go back and change anything," Wright said.
Since the crash, the family's home has been repaired. Breitshtrus switched bedrooms with her mother, and large boulders have been placed where the SUV jumped the curb.
"She's so strong.. Like her shirt says," Wright said.
According to court records, Wade pleaded no contest to one count each of reckless driving causing serious impairment of a body function and failure to stop at the scene of an accident resulting in serious impairment or death. Wade is expected to be sentenced on Wednesday.
"I just wish she knew how much it's changed my life," Breitshtrus said.
"I hope she figures it out," Wright said.
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