Albertville teen, grandmother survive horrific crash with semi in Maple Grove

MAPLE GROVE, Minn. — A near-death experience has left an Albertville teen with quite the story to tell, and her friends are making sure she recovers from a horrific accident in style.

Kylie Gaston is often the center of attention, for the best of reasons.

"She always just uplifts other peoples' moods and it's just super amazing," said one of her friends.

But everyone's moods changed when they got the call from another friend.

"She called me and was like, 'Kylie just got in an accident,' and I just remember my heart dropping," said friend Ella Louto.

Just weeks before Gaston was set to start her college softball career at Wisconsin Lutheran, she and her grandmother hit a devastating detour while on the way to go dorm room shopping.

"I saw that we were like facing on-coming traffic and there was a semi so I hit the brakes," Gaston said. "And then that's when we hit the guardrail and flipped."

She says first responders assumed it was deadly, but Gaston and her grandmother survived.

"I ended up with like I think 18 staples and then 40 stitches in my face," Gaston said. "Right when I woke up, the lady in the recovery room told me that I was bald and that they shaved my head."

She was grateful, but she barely recognized herself.

"I was worried that having a bald head would change the way people look at me or talk to me, and it hasn't even a little bit," she said. "My friends are still my friends and they still support me."

They raised $6,000 for her. She got a wig, and they all got wigs, too.

"We wanted to let her know like we still see her, like she's still our Kylie, even without hair," Louto said.

Her grandmother is also making a comeback. Gaston leaves for college in late August and will be playing softball.