A friend vacationing with CrossFit gym owner and coach Kerrie Olsen described the dramatic scene after she fell out of a golf cart and suffered a severe brain injury.
Clinton Poduska and his wife were part of the group that traveled to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, with Kerrie and her husband, Paul.
“Some other friends on another golf cart that we happened to pass, and they said, ‘Hey, we got a phone call that they had tipped over,’” Poduska told Fox 13 Salt Lake City in a story published on Wednesday, May 6. “It’s just things you never want to see your loved ones go through, the torture that was in Paul’s eyes and trying to care for his wife — just devastating.”
The accident happened last week, when a golf cart carrying Olsen, her husband and another couple tipped over. Olsen hit her head on the ground and suffered a traumatic brain injury.
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“We were just driving around talking and laughing and just reminiscing,” Olsen’s friend Annie Stagg, who was also on the golf cart, told Fox 13. “Next thing you know, we’re in hell.”
Stagg added, “Kerrie is my best friend. I had to leave the scene to go find help for us, and I didn’t know if I’d see her again.”
An unconscious Olsen was transported to a hospital in Mexico, where it was determined she had suffered a subdural hematoma and had massive bleeding around her brain. After undergoing surgery, Olsen was placed on a ventilator in a medically induced coma.
Olsen arrived back home in Utah on Wednesday via medical evacuation, according to a GoFundMe set up in her honor.
“Her parents and her three kids met them in a private area at the airport, and they were able to spend a little bit of time with her before she was transported to the ICU,” the fundraiser explained. “She is still on life support and fully sedated, but they were able to touch her, see her, and tell her they love her. Our girl is home.”
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The GoFundMe has raised more than $90,000 at the time of publication, with the goal of raising $500,000.
“Because the accident happened in Mexico, the hospital requires payment upfront, in cash, and the costs are running tens of thousands of dollars a day,” the fundraiser reads. “They have insurance, but international claims take time to process and reimbursement is delayed, which means everything has to be covered out of pocket right now while they fight to get her stable.”
While Olsen has now returned home, “there is still continued hospitalization, rehab, follow-up care, and a long road of recovery for both Kerrie and Paul.”
“It is a lot,” the GoFundMe adds. “It is a lot for any family, let alone one navigating the scariest days of their lives at the same time.”
