A Creekview High School student's battle to recover from serious injuries suffered in a car crash has mobilized the community to rally around her family.

Friends of Chelsea Laflamme, the 17-year-old daughter of Steve and Lisa Laflamme of Hickory Flat, are organizing efforts to support her family in this time of need.

On July 4, the car Chelsea and a friend, Macy Grim, were in was T-boned by another driver near Hopewell Road and Birmingham Highway.

Macy was taken to North Fulton Regional Hospital with a few bumps and bruises and a concussion.

Chelsea wasn't so lucky.

She had two punctured and collapsed lungs, broken ribs, a broken sternum, a ruptured bladder, five broken areas in her pelvis and a brain stem injury. The injury, which was to the center of the stem, affected Chelsea's wakefulness.

"We were told by the neurosurgeon that she wouldn't wake up," Mrs. Laflamme said of her daughter.

Chelsea was airlifted to Atlanta Medical Center and spent more than a month in its intensive care unit. She eventually regained consciousness and began her road to rehabilitation.

About two weeks ago, she was moved to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta's Comprehensive Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit.

After completing the program, she was allowed to come home last week, but will return to begin the Hospital's Day Rehabilitation program this week.

Since the accident, Chelsea has continued to regain the strength and use of her limbs.

"Everything has been wait and see," Mrs. Laflamme said. "She's amazed us. She's been healing so quickly."

Chelsea is slowly walking, but not yet able to apply full pressure on her left leg. She is able to feed herself and breathe on her own.

Mrs. Laflamme said Chelsea's cognitive abilities also are good, noting her handwriting is getting better and she is able to read. But Chelsea sometimes has double vision and the pupil in one eye is more dilated than the other.

"I think that will go away with time and that's what they are telling me," she said of doctors' prognosis.

Chelsea's ordeal and the effect it's had on her family has not been lost on her friends.

Hillary Turner, a Creekview senior, has joined forces with her Mount Zion Baptist Church youth group to sell T-shirts to help raise money for Chelsea's medical bills.

Sonya Turner, Hillary's mother and an Avery Elementary language arts teacher, said Hillary and her peers have sold nearly $1,000 in T-shirts so far.

They've also created a Facebook Web site group titled "Pray for Chelsea and Macy."

Mrs. Turner has set up an account at First Cherokee State Bank for anyone who wants to donate funds to the Laflamme family. The account is named the "Chelsea Laflamme Benefit Account."

Mrs. Turner said she is proud of her daughter's efforts and how the teens have come together for a common cause.

"I think these kids have to give back to their community," she said, noting that other teens have donated their entire paychecks to the Laflamme family. "It's important that they initiated it, and it's amazing that these kids see this need."

Chelsea's boyfriend, Cody Keel, a 17-year-old senior at Sequoyah High School, also has helped sell T-shirts.

Cody, the son of Bobby and Mindy Keel of Hickory Flat, has been dating Chelsea for about eight months and said they have known each other since attending Dean Rusk Middle School.

"Besides amazing, she's funny, happy, always happy and always smiling," he said of Chelsea's personality.

Cody said he visits Chelsea a few times a week and said she always seems happy when he does. He said the community has been nothing but supportive of the Laflamme family.

He said he's sold about 21 T-shirts to fellow employees at Lifetime Fitness in Woodstock.

Cody said he's overwhelmed with the outpouring of support and hopes more people will take the Laflamme family's situation to heart.

"It's a pretty terrible thing what she's going through, and she needs all the help she can get," he said.

Another long-time friend of Chelsea's is focusing her senior project on raising money.

Jordan Crilly, the 17-year-old daughter of Colum and Lisa Crilly of southeast Cherokee, said she's planning to hold a dinner in March to raise money for Chelsea's medical bills.

"It's all about her and getting her better," said Jordan, who's known Chelsea since they attended Mountain Road Elementary School together.

Mrs. Laflamme said Chelsea's accident has united people from all backgrounds to rally around her daughter and made it a "wonderful experience to help our family grow together."

Most of all, the accident and the aftermath has showed the community what a fighting spirit Chelsea has, Mrs. Laflamme said.

Along with being described as a "super, super social" person student with numerous friends, Mrs. Laflamme said her daughter will not let anything get in her way of a full recovery.

After being released from the hospital, Chelsea attended a John Mayer concert at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre. Even though she was in a wheelchair, her mother said Chelsea was determined to be there.

"She's got a very good attitude about this," she said.

kdixon@cherokeetribune.com

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