WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) - Nearly two years after a crash that killed a Salesianum School teen and left 17-year-old Kelly Muschiatti near death, the Padua Academy student has received her diploma and hopes to finally fulfill her dream of going to college.
“I’m ecstatic,” Muschiatti said, wearing a staticky graduation gown with obvious pride. She’s 19 now, and though physically she looks unscathed, the teen is recovering from a traumatic brain injury.
Her parents said she has had to relearn how to walk, talk and complete other basic tasks, as well as catch up to her peers academically. Her journey toward recovery is ongoing, though she recently finished all the necessary coursework and graduated with her diploma Wednesday.
In March, she starts a program at the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, which works with those who have sustained brain injuries and provides therapy focused on the cognitive and behavioral aspects of recovery, as well as the physical. Rusk specializes in neuro-rehab and employs doctors who are board-certified in brain-injury medicine, a relatively new subspecialty.
“Since my traumatic brain injuries with my frontal lobe and my temporal lobe, reading, writing, anything you do in school, I’m completely lost,” Muschiatti said. “So right now, the most difficult parts of my life, for the past year and 10 months, have been reading, understanding what any words mean because I didn’t know what the word ’for’ meant for a while and writing and getting my thoughts out.”
Muschiatti’s life changed forever on March 11, 2016.
She and two other teens were in the tragic crash. Tyler Brown, a senior at Salesianum, died as a result of his injuries. John Kirsch, also a senior at Salesianum, was taken to the hospital with Muschiatti and was later charged with second-degree vehicular homicide and assault, as well as driving under the influence.
In June, he was sentenced to 60 days in prison, four months of home confinement, 18 months of probation and 200 hours of community service focused on educating others about the consequences of risky behaviors.
The judge ordered Kirsch to pay $20,096 in restitution to Brown’s parents and $6,000 to a victim’s compensation fund. The horrific crash occurred in southern New Castle County just months before Brown was set to graduate from the Catholic boys’ school in Wilmington.
Muschiatti was set to graduate that spring as well. Her father, Mike Muschiatti, said she and Brown had been dating for about two years and that she took his death hard.
After the crash, she was in a coma for several days, he said.
“Right after Tyler was laid to rest, she woke up,” Mike Muschiatti said. “Right after. The next day.”
Theresa Muschiatti, Kelly’s mom, said at first, it was uncertain whether her daughter would pull through and wake up.
“Doctors had told us that her brain was swelling so fast it was basically sheering itself on the inside of her head,” she said, describing an emergency surgery where they removed part of Kelly’s skull to help avoid further damage.
Even after Kelly started to recover, graduating from high school seemed like a nearly unattainable goal, later made possible by the dedicated teachers and staff at Padua, Theresa Muschiatti said.
“Obviously, it’s something I wasn’t sure was even going to happen,” she said, wiping away tears. “This school has been really awesome. When the accident happened, we didn’t know if she was going to live, if she was going to be able to walk or if she was going to be able to do anything.”
“And the way they rallied behind us was just amazing. It was so inspiring and so supportive. It’s the only reason we’re here today, I can tell you that. And today, she’s going to actually walk away with a diploma. And for her, all she can think about is going to college. She has not let go of that goal in two years.”
Kelly said she still struggles and often forgets what words mean or gets them confused with other words. When the family got a new fireplace, she said, she came home and proudly proclaimed, “We have a new microwave!”
She also broke her collarbone in the crash and has recently been experiencing pain in her shoulder. After brain injuries, many people also suffer nerve and brain fatigue, and Kelly said she often conks out about 3 p.m. She initially tried to exercise and run, but now she just doesn’t have enough energy.
Her father said she has also developed a tremor and suffers migraines.
Before the crash, Kelly was a pole vaulter and was set to be on the All-State track and field team.
“It’s weird not being able to do that anymore,” she said, adding that any future athletic pursuits will have to be ones “where I don’t land on my head.”
Kelly was accepted at Appalachian State University in North Carolina before the crash, and the university is holding a spot open for her through this fall. If she successfully completes the program at the Rusk Institute, she hopes to enroll in classes there soon.
She would live off-campus with her sister, Ashley, who is doing postgraduate work.
Cindy Hayes Mann, head of school at Padua, said Kelly is a testament to the strength and determination the school tries to impart to its students. The entire school body prayed for Muschiatti after the crash, and many visited her in the hospital.
“We never give up,” Mann said. “We never give up on ourselves, and we never give up on someone we love. We never give up on our sisters.”
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Information from: The News Journal of Wilmington, Del., http://www.delawareonline.com
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