MIDDLEBURY — Two-and-a-half-year-old Charlotte LaFayette McConnell is making stellar progress in her recovery from injuries sustained after being struck by an SUV on Weybridge Street on April 1, and a fundraising effort launched on her behalf had yielded more than $13,000 as the Addison Independent went to press on Wednesday.
Charlotte’s grandmother Joyce Duclos of Middlebury and her aunt Kasey Lafayette Trujillo of Colorado reported that the young girl suffered a traumatic brain injury after being hit by a vehicle driven by Zachary Bruchmiller, 22, of San Antonio, Texas. Authorities reported that Charlotte had been standing alongside her mother on Weybridge Street opposite the Otter Creek Child Center when she ran into the street and was struck. Charlotte is an enrollee at the Otter Creek Child Center and her mom, Karly LaFayette McConnell, is a teacher there.
Charlotte was airlifted to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H., following the accident. She continues to receive care there. While she miraculously sustained no broken bones, she will have to undergo two or three moths of intensive physical therapy, according to her aunt and grandmother.
The family is incurring considerable expenses as a result of the accident and a website set up for Charlotte has to date raised $13,145. Anyone wanting to contribute can do so by logging on to www.gofundme.com/80gje8.
The Independent will publish a more comprehensive article about Charlotte’s recovery in a future edition.
Reporter John Flowers is at [email protected].