A 17-year-old high school senior in Vancouver, Washington, is facing a long and uncertain recovery after being thrown from a car’s sunroof during a parking lot stunt earlier this month, according to her family.
Elexis Robinson was standing partway out of the sunroof of a moving car on Nov. 3 when the driver made a sharp turn in a shopping center parking lot just after 8 p.m. The sudden movement threw Robinson from the vehicle, and she struck the pavement head-first.
The impact fractured her skull and caused three brain bleeds — one on the right side of her brain and two on the left, according to her mother, Tricha Linares, who detailed the injuries on a GoFundMe page set up to help with medical costs.
Drone footage taken at the scene showed extensive skid marks across the lot, suggesting the kind of stunt driving that appears to be a recurring activity among young people in the area.
Robinson has been diagnosed with a severe traumatic brain injury and remains hospitalized. Her mother says she will need extensive rehabilitation and currently struggles with basic memory, including at times recalling her own name.
“As a mother, there are simply no words to describe the fear, heartbreak, and helplessness of watching your child endure something so devastating,” Linares wrote. “In a matter of moments, our entire world was turned upside down.”
Robinson was two credits short of graduating high school and was reportedly on track to finish with honors before the accident.
“Elexis is so much more than this tragedy. She is an incredibly intelligent, beautiful, and kindhearted young woman who has worked so hard throughout high school and is on track to graduate with honors,” Linares wrote.
According to her mother, Robinson spends most of her time asleep, and when awake is often confused, emotional and disoriented. Doctors have told the family it could take six months to a year before they can offer any real sense of her long-term prognosis.
“We’re kind of left in the dark of what’s going to happen,” Linares said.
Linares also addressed the friend who was driving the car at the time of the incident, saying the blame extends beyond her own daughter’s decision to climb through the sunroof.
“This girl also made a mistake, too. This is her choice, just as much as it was my daughter’s choice to make a mistake,” Linares said. “I want her to learn the consequences of this, but she is a 17-year-old girl as well, and to have her life completely ruined and destroyed, I don’t need two lives like that. I don’t.”
The family has turned to crowdfunding to help cover the costs of Robinson’s ongoing medical care and rehabilitation as she begins what is expected to be a lengthy recovery.
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