Woman dragged by van wakes up
It’s hoped GoFundMe page will help cover medical costs
VANCOUVER — Desiree Evancio, the young woman who was terribly injured after being dragged between a van and trailer in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, is now alert and knows the extent of her facial injuries.
Evancio, 24, a former Shark Club worker, got caught between the van and trailer at 12:30 a.m. on Oct. 12. She was dragged for four blocks before the vehicle stopped, then was rushed to Vancouver General Hospital in critical condition.
A few days later, a GoFundMe page was created in the hopes of raising a million dollars; the driver was from the U.S. so there was no certainty insurance would cover her continuing and lifetime medical costs. So far, $233,370 has been raised.
Immediately after the accident, Evancio — who lost her right eye and nose — underwent a 10-hour surgery to replace her left cheekbone with bone taken from her leg. Her jaw was broken in three places and her left arm seriously damaged.
Evancio’s sister, Ashley Danh, provided an update on her condition earlier this week.
According to Danh, Evancio will need a prosthetic eye and nose.
“She is awake and I believe will be fully awake moving forward until her next operation,” she wrote. “This past Wednesday the plastic surgeon came in and discussed her injuries and somewhat of a plan moving forward on how they will fix her.”
Danh said Evancio is now aware of the extent of her injuries.
“She currently only has a few back teeth left from the accident. Her teeth will be dentures. Their concern is building her upper lip. The next surgery they may start with rebuilding her lower lip,” she wrote, adding Evancio did not remember the accident.
“I think she understands the extent of everything and how she was close to dying,” Dahn wrote.
“Although she can’t make much of a facial reaction to things right now, you could see in her eye that a weight of financial burden was lifted from the many things running through her head,” she wrote, referring to the fundraiser.
The driver of the van, who was touring Vancouver from the U.S. with his punk band Off With Their Heads, has not been charged.