A Friday press conference at The Shepherd Center announced the arrival of Woodstock resident Emily Bowman from Athens Regional Hospital, who will begin her rehabilitation at the Atlanta hospital.

As reported by the Tribune’s news partner, FOX 5 Atlanta, Dr. Gerald Bilsky said Bowman got to the hospital early Friday afternoon.

“This is a long process. We are on a journey here,” Bilsky said at the press conference. “We need to do assessments from a different perspective.”

“Our job is to use interventions, both medication and therapy services, to see what we can do to help her along this journey to get her as good as she can be,” Bilsky said.

Emily’s father, Dale Bowman said the move to Shepherd Center marks a huge first step on the long road to recovery, but that he is glad to know his daughter has moved on from the survival stage to recovery.

“We were told the first … two or three days that it was hour to hour, and so, you know, this is just a breath of fresh air,” Dale Bowman said.

He added his daughter has been making small improvements throughout her stay at Athens Regional.

“About a week and a half ago, she blinked her eyes and we got excited, and then she yawned and we got excited about that,” Dale Bowman said during the conference.

Dale Bowman said he let his daughter, who is out of a coma, know of the transfer this morning.

“I told her this morning first thing, I said, ‘Emily, we’re getting ready to take a road trip.’ And I said, ‘you know, these people have taken good care of you and we’re going to miss them, but we’re getting ready to take a road trip,’“ Dale Bowman said.

Athens police have charged William Heaton, 22, of Rydal in the accident.

Emily Bowman was struck by what police say is Heaton’s truck in the early morning hours of Feb. 16 while she was walking with a friend. Investigators say Heaton fled the scene and they found his truck abandoned nearby with empty alcohol containers inside.

On Friday, Dale Bowman declined to discuss Heaton’s arrest, focusing instead on his daughter’s future and what she’s already accomplished.

Heaton was granted $50,000 bond by an Athens-Clarke County judge on Thursday. He remained jailed on Friday.

A fundraiser at Buffalo’s, restaurant in Woodstock Thursday raised about $7,500 to help pay for Bowman’s medical expenses.

Patrons at the restaurant bid on raffle prizes and purchased orange and blue shirts, bracelets and bows that read “Bows for Bowman” in support of the cause.

Additionally, 10 percent of food sales went toward Bowman’s medical funds.