Cavaughn on recovery path after terrible accident

After spending nearly four months in hospital recovering from a serious motorcycle accident, 15-year-old Cavaughn Coleman is finally out, and rejoicing at the prospects of attending school next term.

Last December, the Eltham High School student had gone on a joyride with a friend but it turned into a great misadventure when she was hit from a motor cycle by a bus.

Her mother, Keisha Coleman, got the news via a phone call.

"Someone told me that Cavaughn was on the back of the bike and the rider swerved to avoid a pot hole in the road. But he swerved right into the oncoming traffic and her knee collided with the back of an oncoming bus. She fell off the bike and the bike fell on top of her knee," Coleman said.

multiple fractures

The injuries Cavaughn sustained were so serious that passers by at the scene thought she was dead. While at hospital, doctors discovered that she sustained multiple fractures including a broken hip, a broken pelvis, and a shattered knee.

Coleman had exhausted all her financial resources to care for her child, but it was short by some $800,000, which was needed to do an operation to save Cavaughn's leg.

After THE STAR featured her story, Cavaughn got an outpouring of support from persons both locally and internationally.

She is now able to walk with the assistance of crutches and will soon regain full use of her leg, through physiotherapy.

Despite the terrible ordeal, Coleman says a lot of good has come from it as she now has a tighter bond with her daughter.

As for Cavaughn, she said the incident has transformed her into a new person.

"My entire life has changed. All the bad things me used to do, me nah go do it again. I want to encourage others going through a rough time, to just have faith that things will be better," she said.

Eagerly anticipating her return to school in September, Cavaughn spends her days at home in Spanish Town, St Catherine, keeping abreast of school material.