MIAMI HIT-RUN VICTIM TAKES ‘BABY STEPS’ IN HOSPITAL
Alexander Sanghwan has regained consciousness in a Miami hospital. But not his old self yet.
Mother Patti, a Stittsville resident, says it is now clear her son sustained a serious brain injury in the hit-and-run accident on March 29 in a Miami suburb.
While leaving a club in the early morning hours, Alexander, 22, was walking on the side of the road with his brother, Andrew, when he was struck by a navy blue BMW that then failed to stop. An exotic dancer turned herself in to police the next day and is facing felony charges.
The University of Ottawa graduate was kept in an induced coma for about three weeks while doctors assessed the damage and treated other injuries.
“He’s progressing but it’s going to be a very long process,” Patti said on Day 27 of the family vigil.
Alexander, a promising student who hoped to become a physician, underwent a tracheotomy to help him breathe and is being fed through a feeding tube. He has lost a considerable amount of weight.
His mother said she believes he recognizes family members at his bedside and has tried to speak by mouthing words.
“He’s going to need a lot of extensive rehabilitation. It’s going to take months, maybe a year, maybe more,” she said.
In the short-term, he may undergo another surgery this week and be moved from intensive care into a head-trauma unit, where he will begin sitting in a chair and working on mobility.
The family will be at his side until he is able to travel home, said Patti, a retired public servant. She said it is unclear how much of the medical treatment will be covered by insurance. So an online gofundme campaign is underway (search Pray for Alex) with about $45,000 raised toward the $100,000 goal.
“The medical bills are going to be enormous. That’s all I know at this point,” she said. “We’re just focusing on Alex right now. ”
On a daily basis, she said family members do what they can to stimulate Alexander by speaking to him, with music, photos and even movies. “It’s going to be baby steps.” The family lived for many years in Kanata and Alexander is a graduate of A.Y. Jackson Secondary School. Patti expressed thanks for the support from friends and family in the Ottawa area, including staff at Tequila Jacks, a ByWard bar pushing fundraising efforts for their former employee.
Two weeks ago, we told the story of the Rennie family in Stittsville and their unwavering determination to find Holly, a seven-year-old goldendoodle that went missing Dec. 16.
They organized a massive poster campaign, searched up and down the Ottawa Valley, alerted shelters and vets, offered rewards and spent mightily on ads to find the pet, last seen near the TransCanada Trail entrance at Abbott Street and West Ridge Drive.
Holly bolted just as she was being put in the car after a ski trip on the trail and a nearby farmer thinks the dog was chasing a deer through the woods.
Scarcely a day goes by that Laura, 50, doesn’t get a tip at home. As does the Citizen — so many sightings, but all apparently false leads.
But even Laura is amazed at the efforts of a pop-up group of dog lovers. The volunteers have formed a Facebook group, distributed more posters and deployed both a drone and a trail camera after a sighting of a dog near the Sobeys grocery store in Stittsville.
Laura is overwhelmed at the generosity of strangers, who are repostering areas on their own time, at their own expense. Another ground search was being organized on the weekend.
“If you thought we were dedicated, there is a group of people (we have not met them yet) that have taken on this cause. They have drones flying, tree cams, flyers, search parties and they have set up a ‘Finding Holly’ Facebook page www.facebook.com/findholly,” she writes. “Ottawa is an amazing city!” Anyone with information is asked to call 613-292-1722.