NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) – Tonasia “Nada” Edwards is moving more and saying more with each passing day, but she’s determined to make even more progress.
“I want to walk,” said Edwards, who is currently wheel chair bound.
The 16-year-old is receiving physical, occupational and speech therapy at Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters (CHKD) after spending six months between Sentara Norfolk General Hospital and Children’s Hospital of Richmond (CHOR).
In October, Nada was behind the wheel when she got into an accident at the intersection of Deep Creek Boulevard and Military Highway in Chesapeake.
“She doesn’t remember what happened and to me it’s a blessing,” said Alice Edwards, her mother. “I don’t want her to remember something traumatic like that.”
Mrs. Edwards says loved ones leaned on their faith while Nada was unconscious for about five months.
Finally, on March 7, she got a call from the nurses at CHOR that her daughter had lifted her leg and arm while getting a bath.
“They were like watch this. They were like, “Nada, do you see Mommy?’”
Mrs. Edwards says Nada shook her head acknowledging her presence.
“I didn’t know what to think. I was just floored. I just started crying and hugging her,” she said. “God is amazing. God snapped his finger and said ‘wake up.’”
Nada, a junior at Wilson High School in Portsmouth, is now earning school credits from CHKD while she completes therapy.
Dr. Rianna Leazer, inpatient rehab unit medical director, says physical therapy is helping to strengthen the right side of Nada’s body.
“We would have said she could have been here for several months when she first came to us and this is the progress she has made in six weeks ready to go home soon,” said Dr. Leazer.
Nada should be released from the hospital next week. She says she set a goal to walk across the stage at her high school graduation next June.
“I always had faith,” said Tony Wolfe, her father. “I was just hoping and waiting until it came.”
