Lauren Rauseo, Stonehill College junior in critical condition after being run off road while cycling in Spain during her European travels as an exchange student.
A parent’s worse nightmare… A Massachusetts private school student has suffered a traumatic brain injury during a roadside crash while cycling in Spain.
Lauren Rauseo, a junior at Stonehill College in Easton, Bristol County, was on holiday in Mallorca when a car ran her off the road causing her to smash into a wall last Sunday and leaving her ‘fighting for her life far from home.’
The teen is in a medically induced coma as her family scrambles to raise the $250,000 needed to fly her home to a specialist pediatric ICU trauma unit in Boston.
‘My goal now is to get my kid home,’
‘She’s pretty banged up. She’s got a traumatic brain injury, broken clavicle, broken hip, punctured lung,’ Lauren’s father Dave Rauseo told Boston 25 News.
Despite this, the parent who is by Lauren’s side in Spain, said his daughter is showing small signs of improvement.
‘The prayers are working because we just left the hospital and she grabbed my hand and she was able to listen to her mom and open her eyes for her mom,’ he told the outlet.
‘My goal now is to get my kid home,’ the father explained, referring to the necessary medical flight.
‘I just wanted to take a minute and thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for the support,’ he said.
Lauren was on exchange studying in Paris and had taken a weekend trip to the Spanish island.
A GoFundMe has been established to help Lauren’s family meet the ‘staggering’ costs of the flight and other medical needs.
The page had raised more than $126,810 toward its $250,000 goal by Saturday afternoon.
The family friend, who established the fundraiser, described Lauren as ‘a vibrant and compassionate young woman with dreams as wide as the ocean.’
The accident ‘has left her in a critical condition,’ they explained.
They added, ‘Together, we can help bring this beautiful soul back home, where she belongs, surrounded by those who love her most.’
Rauseo has garnered large community support having friends and family from both Massachusetts and New Hampshire. She has been described as ‘a vibrant and compassionate young woman with dreams as wide as the ocean.’
