A La Jolla High School student is fighting for her life in the hospital after she and her two friends were involved in a car wreck on their way to Coachella last week.
Sixteen-year-old Manuela Cerciello-Rahbari was in the front seat of her friend’s BMW last Thursday morning when the driver fell asleep, veered off of Interstate 10 and hit a tree near Banning.
Manuela’s cousin and best friend Ginevra Gallone-Latte, a one-time La Jolla High School student, was riding in the back of the BMW and was ejected. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Manuela’s family has been by her side since the moment they learned of the accident. The teenager is in a coma with serious spinal and brain injuries, though, so the best they can do is offer prayer and positive energy. They know that when Manuela wakes up, they’ll have to deliver the unfortunate news that her best friend is no longer with her. Eva Cerciello, Manuela’s mom, told NBC 7 that moment won’t be the first time the family has had to share devastating news. Just four years ago, Eva almost lost her son in an eerily similar crash. He spent months in a coma and fought through organ failure and neurological damage. “Still today my son is doing therapy,” Eva said. Luckily, she added, her son had the world’s prayers and positive energy to get him, and his family, through what seemed like a helpless situation. Now, with her niece gone and daughter’s uncertain future, she’s ready to be a warrior once again.“ If I’m not strong then who is going to be strong? I need to be there to give my daughter the strength. She needs to see me strong so she can be strong,” Eva said.Doctors are unsure whether Manuela will ever walk or talk again, if she wakes up. It took Eva’s son more than six months to leave the hospital after his accident, so Eva knows she has a long and expensive road ahead.
Source: NBC San Diego
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