Battler Hollie sparks surge of family hope
Young crash victim Hollie Snell appears to be making a miraculous recovery.
The 16-year-old was involved in a two-car crash in Te Puke on November 18. One person died and Hollie suffered serious head injuries that her family was told she would not survive.
In line with Hollie’s wishes, the family spent the first week preparing to donate her organs. But after day 12 in Waikato Hospital, Hollie has now been taken off life support and is moving to the high dependency unit.
Her sister Larnie Woodward shared the news on Facebook: “Thank you all for your prayers. Hollie has made some progress. She has been taken off life support and is breathing on her own.
“She can open her eyes. She is doing lots of coughing and lots of yawning. The doctors know from her brain waves that she can hear us and that she is having a normal sleep pattern.”
Woodward said the family was optimistic that if Hollie continued to make progress she might recover.
But Woodward knew the family needed to be realistic and acknowledged they were not “out of the woods”.
“The extent of damage to her brain is not clear and brain injuries are extremely complex. We have to take each day as it comes and just keep hanging on to hope and keep praying.
“It’s a miracle that she’s come this far.”
Woodward said that doctors were optimistic at this stage.
“If she continues to show signs of progress they [doctors] will discuss transferring her to Auckland to a youth rehab centre once she is stable enough.”
Almost two weeks ago, the teen had been travelling between Rotorua and her hometown, Te Puke, when she was involved in the crash on State Highway 33 at Okere Falls.
She suffered severe head injuries and was flown to Waikato Hospital and put on life support. An occupant of the other car died at the scene.
Hollie was placed in an induced coma because of brain swelling. The family decided against surgery because of the high risk of permanent brain damage.
Doctors told Hollie’s wha¯nau they believed a large part of her brain had died but kept her on life support in an attempt to preserve her ability to donate organs.
In last week’s Weekend Herald, Hollie’s grief-stricken family spoke of having made the decision to turn off her life support and donate her organs to save others.
Parents David and Dale Snell and sister Woodward said organ donation was something Hollie had always supported.
Hollie felt passionately about it and had shared with her wha¯nau her
We’ve been told many times this is unsurvivable but here she is fighting her best . . . and things keep changing every day. Larnie Woodward, sister
decision to donate if it meant she could help someone else.
“Hollie would also be incredibly happy to see someone live on because of her decision to donate her organs that she no longer needs,” Woodward had said. “She would say ‘that’s so cool’.
“More than words, her smile would tell us how proud she is.”
But at the start of the week, the day they were planning to say goodbye, the family received news that Hollie had made a slight improvement and had kept her on life support.
Woodward said that as long at there was hope they would hold on.
“We’ve been told many times this is unsurvivable but here she is fighting her best to survive and things keep changing every day.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen but we know the prayers and support from around the country have had some power.”
A Givealittle page was set up to help support Hollie’s family, who are well known in the Te Puke area for helping the community through nonprofit organisations and volunteer work.
Nearly $15,000 had been raised by last night. To donate, go to Givealittle and search Hollie Snell.