The family of the young woman critically injured in the May 1 head-on collision on Highway 154 shared an update on her condition as they look to raise $100,000 to help cover her growing medical expenses.
Carly Grace Howard, 24, was driving to work that Thursday at around 6:50 a.m., according to a GoFundMe fundraiser set up by her family, when another woman — identified by California Highway Patrol (CHP) as 28-year-old Katelyn Fultz — reportedly drove her truck across double yellow lines and crashed head on with Howard’s sedan. Howard had to be extricated from her car and was transported unconscious to the hospital, where it was determined she had suffered a traumatic brain injury and multiple bone breakages and fractures, her family wrote.
Fultz, who was also treated for her own injuries at the hospital, was arrested that same day and booked in county jail on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol, among other charges. She’s being held in county jail on $250,000 (up from her previous bail of $130,000).
Another unidentified victim suffered major injuries in the crash, CHP said.
After being admitted to the hospital, Howard underwent surgery to bring down the swelling of her brain, her family shared, and she remains on life support.
“There is still much that is unknown, including the journey ahead, whatever that may be,” the family wrote on its GoFundMe page. “This is a very serious injury, and there is still a definite cloud of uncertainty in her prognosis. … This life-altering event has cost, and will continue to cost, life-altering money.”
In an update on Sunday, the family shared that an MRI last Friday revealed Howard’s “injuries were worse than we had hoped” and that they had also learned “the other driver was an uninsured motorist with little to no assets.”
Within the first six days of starting the GoFundMe, the family has raised $28,628 of their $100,000 goal. The family expressed their thanks to the community for their support so far.
“Thank you all for your prayers and donations,” the family wrote. “It means more to us than you could possibly know. Our daughter, baby sister, aunt, joy, and miracle. Our Carly.”
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