The news seemed good earlier this week when 5-year-old Arial Young, who was injured alongside her 4-year-old cousin in a car accident with former Kansas City Chiefs assistant coach Britt Reid in the days leading up to the Super Bowl, had reportedly woken up from her coma. But it seems her recovery is slow going.
The Kansas City Police told People saying that Young “is now breathing on her own but remains unresponsive,” but did not elaborate on what that meant.
In a Tuesday update, Young’s aunt Tiffany Verhulst who created a GoFundMe account to help offset the financial costs of the accident, wrote that while her niece had awoken from her coma, she was not the same “happy free-spirited” little girl she once was. “She has a long road to recovery and the things that were once easy for her will no longer be,” Verhulst wrote. “We are so happy she is awake yet so sad at the toll this took on her body and brain.” The girl has been in the hospital since the February 4 car accident.
Britt Reid admitted to having between two to three drinks before driving into two parked cars that night. Young and her cousin were in one of the vehicles. While Young suffered what appears to be a traumatic brain injury, her cousin only sustained a broken nose and concussion. Police are still investigating the incident, but no charges have been filed yet. As for the Kansas City Chiefs, they announced that Reid’s contract ended with the loss of the Super Bowl, and has not been renewed.
Reid is the son of former Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid. The elder Reid has been tight lipped about the crash since his initial statement when he indicated that his son also had to be hospitalized as a result of the incident.
As for Young, her aunt stated that the family was grateful for the outpouring of love and support being shown to the girl during this difficult time. “No family or child should ever have to go through this,” she concluded in the most recent update on the family’s GoFundMe page.
The page has surpassed its most recent goal of $420,000 and is currently at more than $509,472. Young has two other siblings, and her mother has had to leave them in the care of the family while she remains at her daughter’s bedside.
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