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Pocono News Section
Day of Bowling Benefits Car Crash Victim
Day of Bowling Benefits Car Crash Victim - Sunday, December 6, 2009 at 11:10PM EST
Reported by: Mark Hiller
Sunday, Dec 6, 2009 @ 11:10pm EST
WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY - A Hanover Township woman who barely survived a horrible car crash has lots of people rallying behind her.
They took part in a bowling fund-raiser Sunday afternoon at Stanton Lanes in Wilkes-Barre for Jackie Karnes Miller.
The 43-year-old single mom suffered brain trauma in a Wilkes-Barre car crash in September.
"We were all quite shocked that she was in such a terrible accident, said family friend and benefit co-organizer Cate Vnuk. "And we have this benefit to help her out."
Another benefit co-organizer, Sandy Walent, said, "Us as a bowling community and her friends love her very much and want her to get better. And we just want to make it a little easier for her."
Besides bowling, organizers sold everything from t-shirts and bracelets to raffle baskets and baked goods. A big effort, her family says, means more than just money.
"I believe that part of her recovery is going as well as it is because of all the love and all the support we get from the community," said Jackie's mother, Jackie Karnes.
Something the benefit victim's 14-year-old daughter now knows very well.
"And I was like really shocked by, like, all the people who came and supported and cared about us," said Kasey Miller.
Kasey and some friends helped design the fund-raising t-shirts featuring a shamrock.
The symbol reminds friends of Jackie's Irish pride and includes 3-words Jackie's family believes will always last.
The back of the shirt features the inspirational phrase "you can do it".
"She always told me that with softball and she was always at all my games," said Kasey. "She always said that to encourage me."
Everyone who knows Jackie says she was always sports-minded.
Her family relied on her love of Notre Dame football to help inspire her comeback.
Jackie's mom said, "We told her that if she would open her eyes for us, that we would put the Notre Dame game on for her that night. And believe it or not, she did. She opened her eyes."
Jackie's family says she's dependent now on others for almost everything.
But as she makes gradual progress while rehabbing, her loved ones hope to encourage her.
"It's going to be a long road. It's going to be a, you know, a hard road," said Jackie's mother. "But I know that we can do it as our shirts say on the back. We can do it"
Jackie Karnes Miller continues her rehabilitation at John Heinz Institute in Wilkes-Barre.
Her teenage daughter is living with Jackie's brother in Nanticoke | | |
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