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On January 29, 2006, a 22-year-old woman was in a New York City taxi cab when a drunk driver ran a red light at an intersection and struck her cab. The woman was ejected from the cab as a result of the collision and was rushed to New York Presbyterian Hospital. She suffered from a severe brain injury, including a subarachnoid hemorrhage which left her in a coma. A shunt was implanted to drain fluid from her brain into her stomach. The young woman remained in a coma with a respirator trach and feeding tube, and doctors told her parents she might never wake.
She woke up six months after the accident in the Florida Institute for Neurological Recovery (FINR), where she was transferred whilst in a coma. Her family lived in Florida, and she was moved there so they could be close by and care for her. After regaining consciousness, she began years of treatments including physical, speech, and occupational therapy. To this day, she is confined to a wheelchair and cannot walk without assistance. Her left arm has very little mobility and she requires care 24/7.
The drunk driver was found to be 60% at fault for the accident and the other 40% was attributed to the nightclub that served the driver. Samuel L. Davis won a $20.4 million judgement for the woman and the damages she suffered.
