Massachusetts College Student Sustains 'Severe' Injuries After Bike Crash in Spain: ‘Just Horrible’
Lauren Rauseo, a junior at Stonehill College, “was in a bicycle accident in Spain while studying abroad” on March 17, the university said
Lauren Rauseo, a college student from Londonderry, N.H., sustained "severe injuries" on March 17 when she was involved in a bike crash in Spain, according to loved ones
The young woman is an English and communication double major at Stonehill College in Easton, Mass.
Lauren's father said his daughter was visiting Spain with a group of friends while studying abroad in Paris
A Massachusetts college student has been hospitalized overseas after she was seriously injured in a biking accident while studying abroad.
Stonehill College has confirmed that junior Lauren Rauseo, of Londonderry, N.H., “was in a bicycle accident in Spain while studying abroad” on March 17.
The young woman is currently being treated at a Spanish hospital for several injuries she sustained in the crash on the island of Mallorca, according to FOX affiliate WFXT and ABC affiliate WCVB-TV.
Rauseo sustained “severe injuries” in the crash and was initially placed in a medically induced coma, according to Helen DeCosta, who organized a GoFundMe campaign for the young woman’s family.
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Among her injuries are “a traumatic brain injury, broken clavicle, broken hip, punctured lung,” said Dave Rauseo, Lauren’s father, according to WFXT. “She’s pretty banged up,” he added.
Lydia Chmielowiec, Lauren's friend at Stonehill, told the outlet that learning of the crash was "just horrible," adding, "She is the last person on earth to ever deserve something like that."
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Rauseo's father told NBC affiliate WJAR-TV that his daughter and her friends traveled to Spain while she was studying in Paris this semester.
He told WJAR-TV that there are various reports about what may have happened that day. He believes his daughter was moving at a high rate of speed when she turned while trying to avoid the car.
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She is now alert and talking, her parents told WCVB-TV. She does not remember the crash but does remember being on her bike that day, they added.
Now, the Rauseo family is hoping to bring her back to the United States. As of Monday morning, more than $178,000 has been raised via the GoFundMe campaign to help Lauren return home.
The goal, DeCosta said, is to get Rauseo back to Boston “where she can receive the best possible care and embark on the long road to recovery.”
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“The costs associated with Lauren's medical care, including the necessary medi-flight back to the U.S., are staggering,” DeCosta wrote in the description of the online fundraiser.
Rauseo is an English and communication double major at Stonehill College, according to Stonehill College. Lauren received a $3,000 grant through the U.S. Department of State’s competitive Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program to support her study abroad experience in Paris this spring.
At the time, the junior said the scholarship would allow her “to fully enjoy this opportunity without having to worry about finances.”
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