For Ali, hooray. It’s Feb. 1, 2023. Early release from school. A few hours visiting with friends. Start up the golf cart to head home through her Nocatee neighborhood. Then — nothing. Blank.
Michele Colteryahn, home from her job, pours a cup of coffee. Her phone rings. It’s Ali’s number, but on the line is some stranger saying, “Come now.”
Michele pulls up to the intersection — a knot of people part to let her through. The golf cart is toppled; hit by a car. Her only daughter, 14, lies 12 feet away unresponsive. Fire truck and ambulance arrive. Ali is airlifted to Wolfson Children's Hospital.
Dr. Aldana, chief of pediatric neurosurgery, shows them images of the broken sections of Ali’s skull. A brain bleed. Pressure building. Six hours of surgery. For another 24 hours, Ali lies unresponsive. Then movement, Ali turns violent, tearing at her ventilator and IV. This lasts for days.
After eight days in Wolfson Children’s, Ali is transferred to Brooks Rehabilitation inpatient for another eight days, then a 20-day outpatient program.
Incredibly, Ali enters ninth grade at Ponte Vedra High School right on schedule. She’s running with the cross country team and resumes dance classes.
Michele says, “I cannot tell you how much I love these people. Dr. Aldana … the entire staff were amazing. They knew exactly what to do and when. What to say and how to say it.”
— Kendra McCrary
