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Local community rallies behind teenage car crash victim “We’re just going to make it happen,� said Jones. “We are small (as a school) but we are mighty.� Martin-Luna’s outpatient care has been transferred to the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa, and she faces more surgeries in the future. The road has been a hard one, but already, there are signs of significant improvement. Upon release from Sick Kids’ on July 21, she could only sit up for about 15 minutes, but now, she is able to sit up for a couple of hours.
By DESMOND DEVOY
News – The community is rallying around a local girl who has had to deal with more than her fair share of tragedy this summer. Victoria “Tori� Martin-Luna, 14, of Smiths Falls, was heading home from a family reunion as a passenger in a three-vehicle convoy on Highway 400 north of Toronto, near Barrie, on Sunday, July 7, when two of the vehicles were involved in a multi-vehicle collision. “She was asleep in the back seat and didn’t see anything,� said Lesa Jones, chair of the school council at North Elmsley Public School (NEPS) in Port Elmsley, Drummond/North Elmsley Township, where Martin-Luna graduated from this past spring. Martin-Luna was due to start school at Perth and District Collegiate Institute next month. Martin-Luna was then airlifted to the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. She continues to need a neck and back brace for her injuries. “It was touch and go for a while,� said Jones. “They didn’t know if she would make it or not.� Martin-Luna suffered internal injuries including lacerations to her liver, spleen, bowel, and diaphragm. She also lost functioning in one of her kidneys, suffered a collapsed lung, and fractured her spine. She underwent two surgeries and was given six pints of blood. She also had rods and pins inserted in her back. With Martin-Luna’s mother, father, and stepfather keeping vigil at the Sick Kids’ hospital in Toronto, back home, the community was already stepping up to help out. Jayanna Wood, NEPS’ office administrator, offered to help look after the other children while the parents were busy. While Martin-Luna’s grandparents would have loved to have helped, they, and by extension the rest of the family, were dealing with two more major medical emergencies – when her grandfa-
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Victoria Martin-Luna, 14, graduated from North Elmsley Public School in Port Elmsley, Drummond/North Elmsley Township, this past spring. She was involved in a multivehicle collision north of Toronto in July, which nearly cost her her life. ther had a heart attack shortly afterwards, and her grandmother had a stroke a week after that. “How much can one family take?� wondered Jones. “My heart bleeds for them.� Jones is planning to have a fundraising barbecue and car wash at NEPS sometime in September, with the money going to the Martin-Luna family, who face bills arising from physiotherapy and occupational therapy, as well as bills accumulated from parking and accommodation in Toronto. Town and Country Chrysler of Smiths Falls will be donating the food for the day.
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Donations can be made by cheque at local branches of the Toronto Dominion Bank, and can be made out to Lesa Jones and Elizabeth Luna in trust for Victoria Martin-Luna. Donations can also be dropped off at Town and Country Chrysler, 245 Lombard St., Smiths Falls, or at Mahon Pools, Spas, Tanning, and Billiards at 91 Drummond St. W., in Perth. Also, various businesses throughout Smiths Falls and Perth will be placing “Toonies for Tori� jars on their counters. R0012269585_0822
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