Inexplicably Serendipitous

"Originally, we were told she'd be in an induced coma for three days. Then they said they needed a few more days, then a few days more. Now they've started to wean her off [sedation] so they can see if she's stable enough that she can start to wake up."

"Every day she shows a little bit more progress. We're at the risky point right now when they're going to have to start waking her up because the longer they keep her under, the more chance there is that it could cause more damage."

"It was incredible [the realization that Serene Summers was attempting,through her coma, to communicate]. Initially she started signing 'T-H-R-O-' and we said, 'Throat?' and she gave us the thumbs-up. We started asking questions and said if she was able to answer them she should squeeze our hand."{

"I asked if she was in pain and she squeezed my hand. I said, 'Serene, do you understand what's going on?' and she signed 'Why?' and started pointing to the tubes and the bed. There's delirium too because she's under heavy medication and she gets scared and confused."

"She's not really awake. Every now and then she'll start moving around and start panicking. She can't speak. Can't make any noise. But my mom's been really good about being at her bedside and coaching her and trying to calm her down."

"My mom asks questions that require a hand squeeze. It's not a lot, but the progress she's making is amazing."

Matthew Boutros, Ottawa, brother of Serene Summers

Serene Summers, 13, is in critical condition after a hit-and-run. Photo by Supplied /Family photo

On February 13, a Sunday afternoon, thirteen-year-old Serene Summers and a friend had gone along to an area store to buy some Valentine's Day cards they meant to hand out to their classmates at Merivale High School in Ottawa. As the girls prepared to cross a street, a westbound Honda Civic, driven by an unknown person, struck the young girl, and failed to stop, leaving Serene critically injured.

At the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Serene underwent emergency surgery that same evening. She had been placed into a coma to limit damage, as her brain had continued swelling and bleeding. That swelling went on for five days. In that medically induced coma, on a ventilator, ten days following having been struck by a hit-and-run driver, a nurse tending to Serene noticed something peculiar.

The young girl was unable to communicate verbally, no sound emitted from her; she was, after all, still in that medically-induced coma. What drew the nurse's attention, however was the girl's right hand, signalling 'Pain', and then signing, 'Why?'. Serena, years earlier had been taught, for no particular reason,  how to sign the alphabet, by her mother, Anita Armstrong.

What had once been a casual diversion in learning something new and different long ago, suddenly became a miraculous mode of communication when normal communication was not possible. Serene was sufficiently intrigued and invested in sign language that she undertook on her own initiative to expand her vocabulary. As she did she taught herself many other gestures and signs of American Sign Language.

Her brother Matthew, 25, speaks of his young sister with her two brothers and three older half-siblings as tough and athletic. That she aspires in the future to become a pediatric surgeon. "She's an extremely ambitious little girl. She's also very tough. Very strong, very sporty. She's not a dainty little fragile thing. She had two older brothers so she's into rough-housing with us", he explained.

The Ottawa Police Service is actively searching for the driver of the vehicle that struck Serene. Blurry images of the vehicle were released this week, images of a black, two-door Honda Civic coupe, model  year 2006-11. Possibly with front-end damage, conceivably, windshield damage as well.

"It's kind of uncertain what type of therapy and rehabilitation she's going to need. But the doctors and surgeons have said she could be in hospital for months."

"We really don't know the extent of her brain injury, but the doctors have said she's going to require quite a lot of rehabilitation."

"It's still quite early. She's not able to speak and we're not able to see what's going on in her brain until she's awake. Then we can figure out what's going to happen."

Matthew Boutros

Serene Summers and her brother, Matthew Boutros. Serene, 13, was struck by a hit-and-run driver on Meadowlands Drive on Feb. 13. Photo by Photo supplied /Photo supplied