Stacy was pinned in the car, and EMS crews hauled in the Jaws of Life to rescue her.

"Her friend in the back seat had a concussion, and the friend who was driving suffered shoulder and knee injuries. Stacy was the most critically injured; the impact of the crash thrust the dashboard into her lap," says Joann.

When Joann arrived at the scene, Stacy was unconscious and bleeding heavily. She had been taken up a hill to a field where Life Flight® could land to take her to the hospital. The specially equipped helicopter rushed her to Geisinger Medical Center, where trauma physicians evaluated the seriously injured teen. Meanwhile, Stacy's mom, brother, sister, family members and friends made the hour-long drive to Geisinger, where they anxiously awaited word on her condition.

The news was devastating.

"Stacy suffered a significant traumatic brain injury, called a diffuse axonal injury, and also hemorrhaging in the frontal lobe of her brain. Because of that, she arrived in our Emergency Department in a depressed level of consciousness, known as a traumatic coma. She was placed on life support with a mechanical ventilator to help her breathe," explains Frank Maffei, MD, a Janet Weis Children's Hospital physician board-certified in both pediatric critical-care medicine and pediatric emergency medicine.

Joann remembers the injury being described as the lining of the brain slipping off on impact, hitting the skull and shearing the axons, which control traits such as personality, when it slipped back into place.

In addition to debilitating head trauma, Stacy suffered a fractured skull, two fractured ribs, bleeding in another part of the brain, and a collapsed lung and aspiration pneumonia. The severe impact of the crash also detached Stacy's right hip.

Her trauma team carefully managed her care using neuroprotective strategies fluids and electrolytes to control brain swelling and also administered anti-seizure medication. Her right hip dislocation was repaired in the Emergency Department, and doctors placed Stacy's leg in a brace to minimize mobility and swelling. Her aspiration pneumonia was treated with the mechanical ventilator.

Stacy was hospitalized in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at Janet Weis Children's Hospital for a week. Her loved ones watched and waited for signs of hope.

"She still couldn't see or speak. She was trapped between a coma and being fully aware. The right side of her body was paralyzed. Doctors didn't know if that was from the brain trauma or a spinal cord injury, but they couldn't test the cause of paralysis because of the hemorrhaging and swelling that continued in Stacy's brain. We prayed and prayed that the swelling would stop," remembers Joann.

Throughout Stacy's recovery, doctors tried to elicit some kind of reaction from their unresponsive young patient.

"The neurology doctor would yell at her to get a reaction, 'Move something! Give me thumbs up!'" Joann says. "Then one day, we saw this little thumb trying to do something on the left side. I was so overcome with joy. It was a wonderful moment."

After a week of painstaking care in the PICU, Stacy was breathing on her own and was transferred to a step-down unit, where she would spend another week struggling to pull through.

"At first, things got worse in the step-down unit. As Stacy was attempting to regain more of herself, she would sometimes start violently thrashing in her bed. It was horrible. The skin on her leg was torn off where her brace rubbed against it," says Joann.

As the thrashing subsided over several days, physical and occupational therapists helped Joann position Stacy upright in the bed with her hand behind her back. They also showed her how to open Stacy's eyes and train them to stay open. "I knew my daughter was in there somewhere, and I never stopped talking to her," says Joann, who was supported by her sister, her other two children, many family members and Stacy's friends throughout the ordeal.

On August 13, doctors transferred Stacy to a rehabilitation hospital in Wilkes-Barre. She was still unable to speak, unaware of her surroundings and connected to feeding tubes. There, she continued her arduous journey of recovery as her brain healed. By the time she was discharged on September 9, Stacy was walking, talking and eating again.

"Stacy has made an absolutely amazing recovery for someone with this type of severe head trauma. She looks great and is able to walk without assistance. She can hold a conversation, laugh, and interact well with others and that is amazing," says Dr. Maffei.

Although Stacy defied the odds, she is not 100 percent back to her former self.

"The brain can be unforgiving if its initial injury is severe. Often, if recovery occurs, it is slow and arduous," explains Dr. Maffei. "In Stacy's case, the part of the brain injured -- the frontal lobe -- controls personality, cognition and memory. Stacy has some issues with short-term memory loss and the ability to process certain types of information."

Adds her mom, "Stacy is wonderfully determined, but she has a lot to overcome. She did lose something as a result of the brain injury. She once was a soccer player, cheerleader and honor roll student, but her life has changed so much because of the accident. She has no recollection of the car crash or her time at Janet Weis Children's Hospital, and has regained only some of the past 16 years. Stacy doesn't realize how absolutely marvelous Dr. Maffei and the nurses were. They saved my daughter's life."

After months of grueling rehabilitation, Stacy enthusiastically returned to school part-time in January 2005. She has gradually increased her class load from one to three and is reportedly doing well. She continues to receive home schooling two to three days a week, in addition to outpatient speech and occupational therapy. She will need to see an orthopaedic specialist every few months for the next three years to make sure her hip is healing properly. She sees a neurodevelopment specialist for testing and monitoring of her cognitive abilities.

Despite all the challenges that lie ahead, Stacy is optimistic about her future.

"I am looking forward to going to college and becoming an interior designer. I want to find a good-paying job in that field and hope to someday get married and have a family," she says.