Five-year-old Ariel Young, who was injured during a car accident in the week leading up to Super Bowl weekend, has finally woken up from her week-long coma. On February 4, the car Young and her family had been traveling in was one of two vehicles struck by now-former Kansas City Chiefs outside linebacker coach, Britt Reid, son of head coach Andy Reid. Reid admitted to the police who arrived on scene that he had been drinking prior to the crash.
The news of Young’s steps towards recovery came from the GoFundMe created by her aunt, Tiffany Verhulst.
“Ariel is awake,” she wrote in a brief post shared on the fundraising page. Young has been hospitalized and in critical condition since the wreck that left her with a brain injury. Her 4-year-old cousin, Julianna, was also hurt during the accident and suffered from a broken nose and a concussion.
In the wake of the accident, the Chiefs announced that they would be placing Reid on administrative leave while an investigation took place.
“Our focus remains on Ariel Young and her family,” they said in a statement released about the incident. “We have reached out to the family to offer our support and resources to them during this difficult time, and we will continue to pray for her recovery.”
Recently, the Chiefs followed that statement with the announcement that Reid’s contract had expired after the Super Bowl loss, and that it would not be renewed. In 2007, he pleaded guilty to gun and drug charges in a road rage incident, and DUI and drug charges in another incident, and was sentenced to 23 months in prison.
Andy Reid released a statement indicating that his son suffered injuries during the crash as well. “My heart goes out to that young lady,” he said. “I’m also a dad, so I get that, so I obviously have concerns on both sides.” Reid lost his son Garrett in 2012 at the age of 29.
The investigation into the car crash is still ongoing, but as of yet no charges have been filed against the former coach. The family’s GoFundMe has passed its recent goal of $420,000, which should be a huge help to the family since Young’s mom had to stop working and find care for her two other children while her daughter is in the hospital.
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