The Habersham Central High School senior who was critically injured in a wreck Monday in Lula is showing continued signs of improvement. Lindsey Brown’s aunt Laura Miller says Lindsey is off of sedation and is talking. “It’s just a miracle,” Miller says. And it is, considering where the 18-year old Brown was just two days ago.
She had left her mom’s house in Oakwood and was headed north to her job at Tim’s Pharmacy in Cornelia when she lost control of the truck she was driving, ran into the median and flipped across both southbound lanes of State Route 365. The truck landed in a ditch on the opposite side of the highway.
Two brothers driving behind Lindsey saw it happen. Jeremy Dills told her family the truck was still flipping when he got out of his truck to help. Lindsey’s mother Alice Roland Brewer met Dills today for the first time. He stopped by the hospital to check in on Lindsey.
“They were the first ones who came to her rescue. Before the truck even stopped turning they (the Dills brothers) were on the phone calling 911,” Brewer says. She credits the Dills and off-duty volunteer firefighters, Albert Walton and Jeff Gerrin of Habersham County with saving her daughter’s life.
Walton and Gerrin were on their way to their day job when they came up on the wreck. “Somebody who had checked her (Lindsey) said she didn’t have a pulse and they (Walton and Gerrin) checked her and felt a pulse. They immediately cut off her seat belt and opened up her airway which saved her,” Brewer says. Because of the extent of Lindsey’s injuries time was of the essence. “God worked it so that they were able to pull her out quickly.”
Word of the accident spread quickly. Back home in Habersham students and staff at Habersham Central High say they were stunned. “My heart stopped and I lost my breath for a minute,” says HCHS security guard Kristi Payne. “Then I began to pray and asked everyone that came through the gate to pray for my girl Lindsey, as well as her family and the medical team, too.”
After the accident Lindsey Brown was rushed by ambulance to Northeast Georgia Medical Center where she has remained in intensive care ever since. She suffered a fractured skull, lacerations to her head and tears to the carotid arteries on both sides of her brain. She’s on painkillers and is taking aspirin to prevent blood clots. More medical tests are scheduled to determine the full extent of her injuries, including x-rays to check for possible bone fractures.
Due to severe swelling on her brain Lindsey was put into a medically induced coma when she arrived at the hospital but her mom says she is now conscious and semi-alert. “After they took her off sedation the doctor told Lindsey to move her toes and she moved her fingers instead,” Brewer says with a lighthearted laugh.
There haven’t been many lighthearted moments for Brewer and her family over the past several days but she says things are looking up. Lindsey is able to move all her extremities and doctors have told the family she may be moved out of ICU into a regular room by Monday.
Not only is that good news for Lindsey and her family but also for the numerous friends, family members and strangers who have been touched by this young woman’s life and story. Brewer says the family is overwhelmed by the outpouring of community support they’ve received. “I pull my strength from God and from others. We have been blessed.”
Brewer, a Business and Computer Science teacher at Habersham Central High School and the Dual Enrollment Coordinator for Mountain Education Charter High School in Habersham, says her co-workers have been wonderful. “Teachers are stepping in to do my lesson plans and they’re picking up the pieces while I’m gone to make sure my students are getting what they need.”
A graduate of Habersham Central High School, Alice Roland Brewer has been a Raider most of her life but never has that meant more to her than now. “Just the whole Raider family is our support system right now.” She says administrators, faculty, staff and students from both HCHS and Mountain Ed have reached out to the family in “amazing ways.”
Students and faculty from North Georgia Technical College in Clarkesville are also reaching out to the family. Lindsey is a dually enrolled student at HCHS and NGTC and Brewer says her college classmates and teachers have been very supportive. “Classmates from the college have come and brought food and her English and math teachers have sent their love through the students.” Brewer says Lindsey wants to thank the students from Habersham Central and North Georgia Tech for all they are doing.
Monday night more than a dozen HCHS students painted ‘The Rock’ on the school campus in Mt. Airy to show their solidarity with Lindsey. They included the scripture verse, Isaiah 40:29-31:
He gives strength to the weary and
increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
“Those young people are just amazing. They were willing to publicly tell everybody that God’s in control. They’re bold. It’s just amazing what God is doing,” Brewer says. The family shared photos of the painted rock with Lindsey in her hospital room. “A tear actually rolled down her face and she smiled.”
The verse on ‘The Rock’ is now printed on t-shirts. Local businesswoman Tammy Fleming of Wearhouse Printing is printing the shirts to raise money to help with Lindsey’s medical expenses.
God. Faith. Miracles. These are words you hear often when talking with people about Lindsey Brown. The 18-year old is an active member of the Bethlehem Baptist Church youth group in Clarkesville. Her family is among the founding members of Riverpoint Church in Cornelia. Those and many other churches in Habersham, along with Hopewell Baptist in Gainesville, have been a source of physical and emotional strength for the family since the accident. “People are bringing us food and hugs and love,” Brewer says. “Church members have come to pray with us.”
More prayers were lifted up Tuesday at Habersham Central as students gathered after school for a prayer vigil around the painted rock. Brewer says the prayers and love are being felt. “I have full faith that God is in this totally. He is going to work through her and I put my full faith in Him.”
Quick to praise God and so many others, Brewer says she wants the community to know how grateful she and her family are for all the prayers, acts of kindness and good wishes. “They’ve been wonderful here at the hospital. Law enforcement and the State Patrol…they’ve all been very professional and helpful. I want to make sure that the community knows how appreciateve we are for everything everyone’s doing. From the people who were right there on the scene with her and at the hospital, to all of her family and friends and people we don’t even know, thank you! We are so blessed by a community that has a desire to help each other,” Brewer says, her voice trembling with tears. “I haven’t done a thing. I’m just being blessed and watching miracles every day with her. God is working and listening. I think he’s on overload right now, but we are pulling our strength from them (the community) and the Lord to continue to work to bring Lindsey back to good health.”
