Lauren Rauseo, the Stonehill College student injured in a bike crash on March 17.Photo:Helen DeCosta/GoFundMe
Helen DeCosta/GoFundMe
A Massachusetts college student has been hospitalized overseas after she was seriously injured in a biking accident while studying abroad.
Stonehill Collegehas confirmedthat junior Lauren Rauseo, of Londonderry, N.H., “was in a bicycle accident in Spain while studying abroad” on March 17.
Rauseo sustained “severe injuries” in the crash and was initially placed in a medically induced coma, according to Helen DeCosta, who organized aGoFundMe campaignfor the young woman’s family.
Among her injuries are “a traumatic brain injury, broken clavicle, broken hip, punctured lung,” said Dave Rauseo, Lauren’s father, according to WFXT. “She’s pretty banged up,” he added.
Lydia Chmielowiec, Lauren’s friend at Stonehill, told the outlet that learning of the crash was “just horrible,” adding, “She is the last person on earth to ever deserve something like that.”
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Now, the Rauseo family is hoping to bring her back to the United States. As of Monday morning, more than $178,000 has been raised via the GoFundMe campaign to help Lauren return home.
The goal, DeCosta said, is to get Rauseo back to Boston “where she can receive the best possible care and embark on the long road to recovery.”
“The costs associated with Lauren’s medical care, including the necessary medi-flight back to the U.S., are staggering,” DeCosta wrote in the description of the online fundraiser.
Rauseo is an English and communication double major at Stonehill College, according to Stonehill College. Lauren received a $3,000 grant through the U.S. Department of State’s competitive Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program to support her study abroad experience in Paris this spring.
At the time, the junior said the scholarship would allow her “to fully enjoy this opportunity without having to worry about finances.”
source: people.com
