FLEMING ISLAND – To help with a young girl’s road to recovery, the Clay County Cruzers will be revving up their engines on Sunday, Feb. 2. In a partnership with Fleming Island's Brick Oven …
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FLEMING ISLAND – To help with a young girl’s road to recovery, the Clay County Cruzers will be revving up their engines on Sunday, Feb. 2.
In a partnership with Fleming Island's Brick Oven Pizzeria and Gastropub, the group will host the Supporting Chloe’s Recovery Benefit Car Show, raising money for Fleming Island High honor student Chloe Walker.
The event comes almost three months after a tragic car accident changed her life as she knew it.
On Nov. 3, Chloe and several others went for a ride to take a friend home.
According to reports, the driver, who was speeding, took a turn and flipped the vehicle, ejecting Chloe and another passenger.
Chloe suffered brain injuries, broken hips, a broken pelvis, a broken back, a friction tear from her armpit to her hip and road rash. She also lost part of her colon, 50% of her intestine and her spleen.
Doctors gave her a 5% to 90% chance of recovery.
Since the accident, her parents, Misty and Anthony Walker, said Chloe is improving daily. Aside from a little bit of numbness in her right arm, mouth and part of her leg, Misty said she’s doing remarkable.
From only using sign language when she first woke, which Misty attests to her high school teachers, to now beginning to talk again and eventually walk again, she’s becoming the vibrant young girl they once knew.
“Everybody calls her a miracle,” Misty said.
Riddled with uncertainty, Misty said seeing Chloe’s life slowly but surely fall back into place leaves her with joy. Especially when, at one point, she was nearly gone.
“Her surgeon came to the room and said that he resuscitated Chloe with no blood in her body,” Misty said. “And she coded five times that night. So, we almost lost her.”
But, between support from the community and Chloe’s physical therapy sessions, Misty said Chloe is doing fantastic, even just recently arriving home.
“As soon as she woke up, she was striving for the best and just wanted to overcome this,” she said.
The Sunday event will be held at Brick Oven and run from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Attendees can expect music, food and drink specials, a 50/50 raffle and awards for the top three cars. The event is open to all car makes and models.
Chloe worked at the restaurant as a host a month before the accident. She said she looks forward to going back.
The Cruzers said that all money raised would go towards Chloe’s recovery. Misty said Chloe still has some medical expenses and upcoming surgeries, including a possible skin graft and a colostomy reversal.
“She may have some rehabilitation for a long time. And, we don’t know what the years to come are going to bring,” Misty said.
Now that Chloe is home, the family said they also need an at-home nurse, which the funds will also go towards. A GoFundMe is also available for donations.
Her family said they’re grateful for the fundraising efforts and overjoyed at the bright future Chloe has ahead.
“The initial outcome was that she would never be 100% her,” Misty said. “And already she’s, in three months, so her.”