Daly City girl involved in pedestrian accident continues to recover

DALY CITY, Calif. (KTVU) - t's a story of survival: Three months ago we told you about a horrific pedestrian accident that nearly killed a 12-year-old girl from Daly City.

Her doctors say it's amazing she lived.

KTVU's Amber Lee brought us her story back in August and she spoke with the girl Kylie Chen on Thursday.

The eighth grader is almost back to full speed and recently celebrated her 13th birthday and reached out to KTVU to tell us how grateful she is to the medical team at San Francisco General  who saved her life.
　
"It's relaxing and fun to me," says Kylie when KTVU visited her at her home in Daly City.

As she paints a picture of an owl, she says she likes the animal's wisdom and watchful eyes. She says it shares the characteristics of a doctor who helped save her life.

Kylie says painting " kind of gets your mind off things that make you feel sad or mad." 

She says she's sad when she thinks about the accident that nearly killed her on August 3rd.

Kylie and her grandmother were walking out of the Skyline Plaza Shopping Center in Daly City when they were hit by a black BMW.

Her grandmother suffered minor injuries, but Kylie was rushed to SF General.

She had traumatic brain injury, internal bleeding, blood clots, a fractured pelvis and broken bones.

"I hate to say it, but not much hope.  But we just keep the hope going," says Kevin Chen, Kylie's father. 

Chen is raising Kylie as a single dad and says he knew his daughter's chance of survival was slim.

She underwent two back to back surgeries. 72 hours later, it appeared she was going to pull through.
Kylie credits her medical team for saving her life.

"We got to her very early.  We were very aggressive and the day after surgery was great because she started moving everything around," says Dr. Michael Huang, the neurosurgeon who led the medical team.

Dr. Huang says Kylie was spirited in her fight for survival pulling out her IV tubes, signs that she was able to move despite her injuries.
 
Physical therapy followed. It took three weeks before Kylie was able to sit up, but it wasn't long before she could walk.

"It's hard work taking care of patients after traumatic brain injury.  Patients like Kylie make it all worth it," says Dr. Rutledge.

On Thursday afternoon, Kylie gifted one of her neurosurgeons, Dr. Rutledge with an acrylic painting she made of a phoenix rising from the ashes.

Kylie says it's a symbol of never giving up hope.

She wears a helmet at times to protect her head. She'll need another surgery in about a month to replace a bone in her skull that was removed to relieve pressure in her brain after the accident.  She proudly shows us her scars.

"The scars show who I am and what happened to me will get better," says Kylie. 

"It's hard to believe it, but it's happening. Everyday she's with me, I  still thinking is this for real or not," says Chen. 

Kylie's eager to resume her life before the accident.

She hopes to go back to school in January.

Kylie  says she does have trouble with her memory, but that she's putting the accident behind her and she's grateful for this second chance.

To help Kylie and her father with expenses: www.gofundme.com/KylieChen