Family in Tarentum hit-and-run adjusting to round-the-clock care, extensive physical therapy

TARENTUM, Pa. — Sharing photos and choking back tears—Lanae Manley Jackson talked only to Channel 11 about the agonizing road to recovery for her baby sister, 26-year-old Lyric Jackson, and her niece, 9-year-old Symia, who were critically injured in a hit-and-run crash near the Tarentum Bridge.

“It just saddens me that she’s really going through this situation. And she wants to be normal so bad. And I want her to be,” said Manley Jackson.

The family’s new state of normal is around the clock care for Lyric, extensive physical therapy sessions and regular doctor’s appointments.

“She is learning to walk again, learning to talk again. She’s also learning how to move her left side,” said Manley Jackson.

Symia was in a neck brace for weeks. She is recovering but is currently dealing with emotional and mental trauma as well as crippling anxiety every time she has to cross the street.

“She recalls everything. She recalls her mother being hit. She recalls her mother covering her. She recalls going in the air. She recalls waking up,” said Manley Jackson.

The mother and daughter were hit near the Tarentum bridge back on Dec. 30—flying 8 feet into the air and being left for dead. The driver was nowhere to be found.

Police later charged Lois Davis, of Lower Burrell. She was captured on surveillance footage at a nearby Giant Eagle inspecting the heavily damaged car minutes after the crash.

Both Lyric and Symia were critically injured. Lyric was rushed to a hospital and in a coma for weeks. She was on a ventilator with a brain bleed. She suffered a stroke.

Lanae says Lyric lost all feeling on the left side of the body and needs constant assistance when it comes to walking and daily tasks.

“It’s been emotional for me because I have to when I go there to wash her up or to help her out, ya know. It just saddens me that she’s really going through this situation,” said Manley Jackson.

Davis goes back before a judge on March 8 for her next court hearing.

A GoFundMe has been set up to donate to the family and help with medical bills.

You can donate here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/u7j9k-the-road-to-recovery.

Woman at center of Tarentum hit and run appears before a judge

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