Teens Struggle to Survive After Being hit by car in Hallandale
Please continue to say Tehilim for Elana Leah bas Shaindel Rochel and Chaya Mushka bas Mattel Click Here for Kapital Chof.
HALLANDALE, FL — A teenaged girl severely injured in a car accident on Sunday is showing signs of improvements, but another girl also involved in the accident remains in a drug-induced coma, a friend said on Friday.
Elana Leah Kasle, 18, of Michigan, and Chaya Mushkah Yanni, 19, of France, were struck around 10 p.m. Sunday while crossing Hallandale Beach Boulevard. The two, who worked as counselors at a winter camp, had shopped at Publix and were following other students back to the Chaya Aydel Seminary at 1295 E. Hallandale Beach Blvd., where they study and live.
School officials said Wednesday that Yanni, who suffered broken bones, was getting rehabilitation and was expected to recover. Sheina Kanar, 18, a seminary student who witnessed the accident, confirmed that Yanni had left the intensive care unit.
“She’s been improving steadily; we’re still praying for her,” Kanar said.
Kasle remained in a drug-induced coma because of brain swelling.
“There have been some slight movements, so that’s given us some hope,” she said.
According to Hallandale Beach Police, the girls were jaywalking and it was dark when Gloria Boix, 82, of Miami, struck them with the gray Honda SUV she was driving. Boix, who was heading home after visiting her sister, was not injured and is not expected to be charged, said Officer Alan Warren.
Some of the students who saw Kasle hit the car’s windshield and then slam into the pavement were left deeply shaken, said Rabbi Yossi Lebovics, principal of the seminary. They received professional counseling but two of them, from France and Israel, were so upset they returned home for a break.
“It’s very traumatic for them,” the rabbi said.
A prayer vigil Wednesday night at the school, a Chabad Lubavitch seminary for post-high school religious girls, attracted hundreds of participants who were urged to “think positive and it will be positive,” Lebovics said.
Both families flew in and are at their bedsides.
Kasle’s mother asked “for everyone to increase their belief,” Lebovics said. South Florida synagogues are asking congregants to observe Jewish laws, such as lighting Friday night candles, while pleading with God for the teens’ full recovery.
Reached on Thursday, Boix said she wasn’t to blame. “They were crossing where they weren’t supposed to, in the middle of the street,” she said.
Warren, the Hallandale Beach officer, said skid marks show Boix was not speeding and “the streetlight was not operable in that area. It’s a little darker than usual.”
“As soon as she did hit them, she started to brake,” he added.
While asserting “I don’t feel guilty,” Boix said she felt badly. “The poor girls,” she said. “It’s shameful this happened.”
Records show Boix received a ticket in Miami for speeding in 1997 and a citation in Broward for violating a driver’s license restriction requiring her to wear corrective lenses in 2000.
Boix said she was wearing her glasses at the time of the accident. Warren said when he saw Boix after the accident she was wearing them.
The seminary at Chaya Aydel attracts girls from throughout the world. It is the only one of its kind in Florida; the nearest sister school is in Brooklyn.
There are 20 girls in this year’s class in Hallandale Beach. They study for one year, usually instead of pursuing a traditional university education. Classes include Hasidic philosophy, Biblical prophets and Jewish history, as well as karate, dance, art and cooking. Secular studies focus on teaching methods and classroom management.
Some of the girls go on to become teachers in religious schools, but all are expected to marry and have families.
Rabbi Raphael Tennenhaus, dean of the seminary, said, “People all over the world are praying for these girls.”
He said some who heard the news promised to pray at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, Judaism’s holiest site.
“It’s been on many different Web sites,” the rabbi said. “Word travels very fast.”
Staff Researcher William Lucey contributed to this report.
chaya
The lady probably shouldnt have been driving…she was too old for the proper reflexes to stop her SUV in time. plus, her vision wasn’t good. what a shame
anonymus
refuah shelaima those who were hurt phisically or emotianally
Yossi
What kind of human being, hits two people with their car, even accidently and then says “I don’t feel guilty” for that alone she should be charged…
Chana
I think that although the girls were “jay walking”, the driver is to blame. It’s always the fault of the driver. If this 82-year-old woman was unable to stop in time- then it’s as if she was speeding-because she was going too fast for the “circumstances”. At the very least her liceses should be taken away..!
Refuah Shleima
a friend
I agree, she should be charged just for saying that she doesn’t feel guilty, thats absurd! In the meantime we must say tehillim for Elana Leah bas Shainel Rochel, we need Hashem to show us a miracle!! perek yud tes. MOSHIACH NOW!
MAY WE HEAR GOOD NEWS VERY SOON!
please
quite an insensitive article if you ask me.
we didn’t need the details of “her hitting the windshield and then the pavement…”
refuah shleima moshiach now.
Safety, Please
With all due respect to the families (I happen to be a friend of one family member), all these people saying that’s it’s the driver’s fault are a little narrow-minded. Yes, she hit Lubavitch girls. Yes, it’s like family. BUT, they were jay-walking! No matter what the driver’s age was, it’s very hard to avoid people that walk right in front of your car. Add on the fact that it was night, and darker than usual due to faulty streetlights, and it’s nearly impossible not to hit them.
This woman should NOT feel guilty. Feeling guilty is something you feel when you’ve done something wrong, which she didn’t. She did say that she felt badly, which is appropriate, as people did get hurt. Although this is a devastating tragedy for their families, friends, and everyone who knew them, this could have been avoided.
CROSS ONLY WHERE YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO!!! There are traffic laws in this country for a reason!! I know that “we are Lubavitchers and we are higher than the law” but you see where that gets us. Parents- teach your kids too cross only in the crosswalks. Bochurim and girls- it’s not cool to cross in the middle of the street! Wherever you’re going can wait another 2 minutes. Better to be late than “the late.”
Chana
I agree with that 100 percent, this is definately a tregedy but one that could have been avoided. My heart goes out to all those involved, i beg of everyone BE SAFE we can’thear of something like this again!!
Adena
Although what you’re saying is true- I STILL believe that old people should be off the road. I have a grandmother who is in her 80’s- who should NOT be driving. Clearly this is something that could have been avoided- but the impact would not have been as great had the driver been able to use her eyes (a miner detail of the road).
Driving is a PRIVALEGE- NOT A RIGHT!
A fellow jaywalker
Adena, I compeltly disagree with you. What you say is biased and discriminatory. Firstly, driving laws recognize that older people might not be as quick to respond in ordinary circumstances and therefore are more stringnet when renewing driving “privalidges”. Secondly, it is a well known and published fact that driving through the night on a highway poses greater risk. Does that mean that people should not be “privialged” to drive at night anymore. However our society is not that paternalisitc yet and leave driving, for the most part, to the discretion of the driver. That being said I support what Safety said, traffic laws are there for a reason. While it is hard to pallette two of our girls getting severely injured, it should be taken as a warning for all of us.
friend
i love you elana
Tracht Gut Vin Zein Gut
she WILL pull thruough, i believe that with all my heart and soul!!
Raizy
This is such a sad story…
But on a side note, spell-check might be a useful function for the posting system.
Refuah Sheleimah to the girls. Mashiach now!
a crownheightser
Look the lady didn’t know someone would be walking where & when they were not sopposed to…..“ Ushmartem meod lenafshoiseichem !” Let’s all open our Tehillims… that’s the IKAR and have
in mind all those when saying REFAENU!!
“Hamaase hu haikar” WE NEED MOSHIACH
YESTERDAY!
florida girl
Welcome to florida where the average driver is over 80. So please be careful whether walking or driving !!!
Adena
A fellow-jaywalker: I hear what you are saying…and perhaps I am a bit biased- however, I dont agree with the comment you made saying: “Does that mean that people should not be “privialged” to drive at night anymore”? This has nothing to do with the aspect of driving at night. What I am saying is, that although the girls did something “wrong” by jaywalking- this would not have happened had the woman been younger and able to use her senses properly.
A perfect analogy would be a drunk driver. He is driving along a busy street and crashes into two jay walkers. Yes the walkers were wrong for walking- BUT, had the driver been sober, he would have noticed the jay’s and slowed or honked. You see- this old women compares to a drunk person. Both should not be on the road. Biased or not- that is my take.
florida jew
Honestly why is this becoming an argument let the people who do this for a living do this part and lets do our part and keep praying for these girls to have a complete recovery!!!
YS from Dnepr
1) The girls are not from Florida, and as someone who has been living in my own new place of residence for about the same length of time these bnos melech have been in seminary, I know that it takes a long time to get used to traffic and driving patterns in a new place, whether you are a pedestrian or a driver.
2) Florida is notorious for accidents caused by well off retirees who drive luxury cars and SUV’s that they can no longer control due to slower reflexes. Older drivers need to be tested every year, and at some point night driving privileges need to be revoked.
3) That woman is heartless, plain and simple. Never mind her remarks – from the last article comments, I understand that she did not even call 911. Yesh dayan veyesh din…the girls should have a refuah sheleima bekorov mamash, and that’s all that matters for us.
Avruhom Yehida
I came back to visit this blog, hoping for an update on these precious girls. What do I discover? A debate over fault, with some blaming the victims!
If you need to debate that, this is not the place for it. Here is where their fellow classmates, and parents and friends, all who have been traumatized by this, should be able to come back and tell us how their loved ones are, without being brought to tears by posters who did not take their presence into consideration.
What I want to see, is not a debate on fault, but a debate on who is going to saw more Tehillim. Each saying, “I will say the ENTIRE TEHILLIM every day until Elana Leah bas Shainel Rochel can log on too.
May Hashem bring them both a complete and FAST refuah shalima… NOW
T.H.
I know Miss Kasle’s father. He will appreciate any prayers for his daughter. What matters now is that people support the girls in making a full recovery. Whatever your religion, please look to God in this situation rather than arguing amongst yourselves over an event that can’t be changed. They were hit. That’s the fact. Now, let’s move on and pray for these beautiful, young girls and their families.