Jaywalking Coma

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Irregular News for 01.11.07

 

West Orange, NJ -- A New Jersey teenager was hit by a car and ended up in a 10-day coma. While comatose, the teen received in the mail a ticket for jaywalking for the night she was hit. Her outraged family went to court to have the ticket dismissed.

 

Late on a July evening, 16-year-old Ryan Van Brunt and her boyfriend posed in front of a giant inflated penguin on display and then crossed Northfield Avenue back to their car. It was this short walk that almost cost the teen her life.

 

"It just wasn't real. I was not ready to believe that it was happening," said Robin Van Brunt, the girl's mother.

 

Ryan's mother couldn't believe her daughter was hit by a car while crossing the street and that she could die.

 

"At first, they didn't think she was going to make it at all. Then they thought she was going to have severe brain damage," Robin Van Brunt said.

 

After the accident Ryan slipped into a 10-day-long coma. While she was unconscious in bed, the teen received in the mail a ticket for jaywalking on the night she was hit.

 

Ryan woke up with severe pain and a date in court.

 

"I was just amazed. Why would they give a ticket for something like that?" said Ryan Van Brunt.

 

Others agreed that the ticket issued by a West Orange Police officer was in poor taste.

 

"It would be wrong. It wouldn't feel right," said one man in West Orange. "It's kind of insult to injury."

 

And in court on Tuesday night, the prosecutor agreed and dismissed the ticket.

 

Robin Van Brunt said, "I think it should have happened a long time ago. This was just a waste of everybody's time."

 

With the ticket out of the way and her injuries healed, the family hopes to put the whole incident behind them.

 

source

[Drowning_in_the_Sea_of_Red]

Now waking up a sleepwalker doesnt seem like such a bad thing to do...