Girl, 5, awakes from coma after being injured in crash involving Chiefs assistant

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Share via Email
• Copy Link

  Link Copied

The young girl injured in the car crash involving the former assistant coach of Kansas City Chiefs Britt Reid has finally awakened from a coma.

The aunt of 5-year-old Ariel Young announced on Monday her niece is awake. Young has been in the hospital since Feb. 4, the day a truck hit the vehicle she was sitting in. The truck was being driven by Reid who admitted to drinking alcohol before the crash, per The Washington Post.

“Ariel is awake,” wrote Tiffany Verhulst, the organizer of the GoFundMe on behalf of the child’s mother.

Read More: Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are expecting their second child

Her previous entries asked the public for their prayers and support.

“Hello again, Thank you to everyone who continues to pray for Ariel and support the family in a time like this. She remains in a coma and there are no changes today,” Verhulst wrote on Feb.11.

“I’m hopeful that the next time I update this page it’s with better news. When sending a message to this page if you don’t mind, can you please include where you are from, I’d like to print the messages out and show Ariel one day when she is older so she can see the huge outpouring of love and support she has from all over the world. Thank you all again. Tiffany Verhulst and family.”

Read More: ‘I am a child!’ Pepper spray reflects policing of Black kids

Young and a four-year-old child were sitting in a vehicle near Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City when Reid’s car crashed into theirs. The car Young was in stopped to assist a family member’s car that had ran out of gas near I-435 and Stadium Drive. Reid’s Ram Laramie Sport hit both cars.

The other child suffered a concussion, broken nose and has been traumatized by the experience.

Reid, 35, is currently under investigation. An officer reported Reid had “a moderate odor of alcoholic beverages emanating from his person” and noticed his eyes were “bloodshot and red.” The former coach told the officer he had a prescription for Adderall. The officer also reported “four clues of impairment.”

Andy Reid, head coach for the Kansas City Chiefs and Britt’s father, released a statement.

“My heart goes out to all those involved in the accident, in particular the family with the little girl fighting for her life,” he said to reporters. “I can’t comment on it any more than I am here, so the questions you have, I am going to have to turn those down at the time,” the elder Reid said.

“But just from a human standpoint — man, my heart bleeds for everyone involved in that.”

No charges have been filed yet.

Have you subscribed to theGrio’s podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!

TheGrio is now on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, and Roku. Download theGrio today!