Caroline Koenig ’14 had surgery last night to help repair her right leg, injured by an oncoming car. The car injured both her tibia and fibula, and the surgical action taken was to place a rod in the tibia.
Koenig, a runner for the girls’ cross-country team, was hit by a minivan near the intersection of Long Lots Road and Peabody Lane during practice Tuesday afternoon, according to the Westport Patch.
While Koenig is expected to be released from the hospital on Saturday—granted she can eat—the recovery process, according to her, is “very painful.”
“I could hardly sleep,” Koenig said. “My mind would keep replaying the moment when I got hit.”
Koenig’s teammates were also traumatized by the accident.
“When the other girls in her group came back to the track, they walked in holding hands to support each other as tears rolled down their faces,” said Jordyn Patterson ’14, a teammate of Koenig’s on the cross-country team.
Patterson was informed by a coach that Koenig “is staying strong and remaining in high spirits.”
On Thursday, Koenig will receive a second surgery—plastic surgery—to cover up the open wound in her leg. According to the medical report Koenig will be on crutches for up to six months following the surgery, leaving her out of commission on the track until around March.
While boys’ cross-country coach Laddie Lawrence and girls’ coach Amanda Parrish declined to comment due to the scene currently being under investigation, Staples Principal John Dodig says, according to Lawrence, in the 51 years he has been here an incident like this has never happened before.
“I called the house twice, but her parents are probably supporting her in the hospital,” Dodig said. “As far as all the reports I’ve read, she was on the appropriate side of the road taking all the appropriate precautions. The driver is the one at fault here.”
Nevertheless, Koenig and her teammates are hoping for a speedy recovery.
“A few of us are here now in the hospital room with her,” teammate Caroline Accardi ’15 said. “It’s hard, but we’re keeping it together.”
Location of Accident:
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This is a breaking news update and will be revised as further information is released.
