On the evening of October 25, Tate was house sitting at her parents' home while they were on vacation, and one of the family dogs wandered onto the road and was hit by a passing vehicle. The driver and passengers came to the house to notify her, and they returned to the road to survey the dog as a group. As Tate and two others were assessing the animal while the other passengers were waving traffic around the site, a drunk driver failed to slow and struck the three of them.
Tate suffered a brain bleed, brain contusion, many broken bones in her extremities, a broken pelvis, several broken vertebrae, a hip dislocation, an open ankle fracture dislocation, and has a host of scrapes and bruises all over her body. She currently has motor function in all extremities and is stabilized in the ICU. The other two victims were taken to another hospital, but we are unable to speak to their current condition.
Doctors say her road to recovery will be a long one. If all goes well, she’s looking at 12 to 18 months before she’s fully recovered, and she’ll be faced with challenging rehabilitation and therapy regimens that will likely last much longer.
Tate is so much to so many. She is a daughter. A little sister. An aunt. A niece. A leader. A friend. She’s a fighter in more ways than one. But more than anything, Tate is caring. She got hit by a drunk driver because she was doing everything she could to care for an animal that meant the world to somebody else. This is who she is. Anyone who’s ever interacted with Tate in any way has felt her positivity, and right now Tate needs all of yours.
So many lean on her, and know that for a while she’s going to need to lean on you. Be sure to check back for her progress updates, lend a hand when and how you’re able, and be proud of how hard she’s fighting a battle she never asked to fight.
