Family creates GoFundMe for injured daughter
Funds to support North Penn High School student paralyzed in car crash
LANSDALE >> Naomi Kling, 18, of Lansdale, was paralyzed in a car accident that happened the night of July 5.
William L. Falone, who is a friend of Naomi’s, was driving the car with four people in it when they crashed into an embankment and flipped several times. Naomi broke her neck, back and two of her ribs, and the three other people in the car suffered less serious injuries.
Naomi is going to be a senior at North Penn High School, and she is also involved in the cosmetology program at Montgomery County Community College. This summer, she had just gotten her first job at Charlotte Rouse and was really enjoying the job and the people there before the accident.
Her mother, Charity Kling, lit up as she described her daughter.
“She’s very spunky,” she said. “She is outspoken, very funny and pretty. She is very witty and silly. She has her moments. She is a typical teenage girl. She is also very strong and strong willed.”
Naomi has an inspiring attitude toward life and her situation, according to her mother.
Charity said, “This is not going to stop her from doing anything. Even in her head now, this is not permanent for her. In her head, somewhere down the line, she is going to walk. That’s just the way she is. She said to me, ‘Miracles happen every day, and why not to me?’”
Naomi is determined to take one day at a time and to get stronger every single day, her mother said.
She has made remarkable progress since the accident. She suffered some setbacks after the initial surgeries on her back and neck that were done the first two days after the accident. However, in less than a month, she was moved from the hospital to Good Shepard Rehabilitation Center in Allentown. She can already sit up for a few minutes on her own and balance herself.
Naomi’s family did not waste any time making sure she would have everything she needed going forward from this life altering accident. Charity’s best friend suggested making the GoFundMe account, and her husband George set it up with her friend’s help and direction.
They set up a GoFundMe account for her to raise money to help pay for all of her medical bills, a wheelchair and remodeling their home to make it accessible for Naomi when she comes home.
As of Sunday afternoon, the GoFundMe account for Naomi has raised $5,209 in just 21 days. The Kling family’s goal is to raise $50,000 to make sure that Naomi’s current and ongoing needs will be taken care of. Good Shepard predicts that Naomi will be able to return home in about six to eight weeks, but that will be re-evaluated halfway through her time there.
Naomi is expected to re-- cover — “in any form of recovery,” as her mother Charity said — in about six months to a year. As for her senior year of high school, Charity explained North Penn High School has been very accommodating. As school gets closer, Naomi will decide whether she wants to do her schoolwork online or have someone sent to her — wherever she is to teach her personally.
After high school, Naomi had hoped to get into science fiction and special effects cosmetology and maybe even go to college for it at some point.
Charity said, “She will still be able to pursue those dreams even from a chair.”
In the meantime, Naomi has a huge support group of friends and family helping her through this difficult time. Many family members and friends are going out of their way to do their own fundraisers for Naomi.
Family friend Nicole Bailey is holding a fundraiser for Naomi at Panico’s Neighborhood Grill & Sports Tavern in Lansdale Sept. 26 from 3 to 7 p.m. Tickets for this event will be available for presale Aug. 15 and will cost $25. Tickets may be purchased at the door the day of the event for $30. Tickets purchased include food, beer and soda, and the event is for both adults and children; the price is the same regardless of age. There will be raffle baskets, T-shirts and bracelets for sale; games being played; and a photo booth on site. Pictures taken in the photo booth at the event will then be put into a scrapbook and given to Naomi. Merchants who may want to donate baskets to this event are welcome.
To purchase tickets for this event early or to donate to this event, contact Bailey at nbailey@yahoo.com
Follow Naomi’s progress on the Facebook page, “Miracles Can Happen-Naomi’s Page” that is run by her mother Charity at facebook.com/groups/1034063929951631.
Naomi’s GoFundMe account can be found at www.gofundme.com/z6ecta2.