Girl battles back after car accident
Haylie Hyde was struck by a car outside her Port St. Lucie home on Feb. 24, resulting in a broken left femur and tibia.
Doctors told her mother that 8-year-old Haylie would spend a couple of days in the hospital and then recover at home. But nearly three weeks and five surgeries later, Haylie remains in the pediatric ward at St. Mary’s Medical Center.
Complications resulting from her injuries — specific ally, compartment syndrome — have conspired to keep the little girl in a hospital room instead of attending school at Windmill Point Elementary. Compartment syndrome is a painful and dangerous condition caused by pressure buildup from internal bleeding or swelling of tissues usually caused by a broken arm or leg.
“She’s getting better and wi l l e v e n t u a l l y b e O K , ” Adrian Richardson, Haylie’s mother, said. “The hardest part is that she’s in pain and having to watch her go through that.”
Richardson, 25, has been at Haylie’s bedside since she was brought to the hospital but has been unable to work at her job waiting tables. With no insurance to fall back on, friends set up a GoFundMe account to help pay for required treatment. As of Monday, more than $1,800 has been raised. Haylie’s father is not involved in her life, Richardson said.
There are few things Haylie enjoys more than riding her bike, her mother said. On Feb. she was riding outside her home with a group of friends in the 1500 block of Southeast Manth Lane when she was struck by a Honda Civic.
Port St. Lucie police said the 22-year-old driver was not cited.
Haylie was flflown by helicopter to St. Mary’s, where she spent five days in the intensive care unit in serious condition. But it wasn’t her own health that worried the girl when she woke up.
“When she fifinally came to, her response was, ‘Were any of my friends hit? Are they OK?’ ” her mother said. “She’s very friendly and caring about other people.”