'A really great community': Family of girl in coma from crash thanks Worcester for support

WORCESTER — Ayuen Leet , the 13-year-old girl who was struck by a car July 29 on Shrewsbury Street, is still in a coma, but the girl’s family is optimistic that she will soon open her eyes.

Mayak Leet Jok, the father of Ayuen Leet, was accompanied by his son and the girl’s older brother, Jok Mayak Leet, for a small ceremony Wednesday at Fidelity Bank, 465 Shrewsbury St., in which the Shrewsbury Street Merchants Association presented a $1,000 check to the Leet family.

“She’s getting better a little bit every day but she hasn’t waken up since. She’s still in a coma,” Jok Mayak Leet, 23, said about his sister.

“The doctors were surprised she made it. That’s how bad it was,” Jok Mayak Leet said. “She had a fracture of her skull. She had a brain bleed and a lot of swelling. So they had to take off the right side of her skull.”

Ayuen Leet was seriously injured in a pedestrian crash that happened about 3:50 p.m. July 29 in the westbound lanes of Shrewsbury Street, across from the Boulevard Diner.

She was taken by ambulance to UMass Memorial Medical Center and has been in the pediatric intensive care unit ever since.

The girl was walking back from African Community Education, a nonprofit organization that provides instruction and mentorship to African refugees and immigrants in the city.

She is the youngest of five siblings and attends school at Dr. James A. Caradionio New Citizens Center.

The family came to the United States from South Sudan last year and settled in the area in April 2023.

“It’s been tough but we’re managing,” Jok Mayak Leet said, speaking for the whole family.

During the small ceremony, John Piccolo, president of the Shrewsbury Street Merchants Association and the owner of Piccolo’s at 157 Shrewsbury St., presented a $1,000 check to the family from the association.

In addition, District 2 City Councilor Candy Melo-Carlson gave the family a $500 check, from herself.

A PayPal account set up to help the family has raised more than $14,000, and a GoFundMe page has raised $2,500.

Mayak Leet Jok, the patriarch of the family, thanked the association and the city councilor in his native Dinka dialect.

Jok Mayak Leet translated his father’s heartfelt words.

“Thank you so much for what you’re doing. Ever since we came here we’ve been welcomed. God bless you all,” he said. “This is going to help my daughter come off her operation. … The help has been incredible. We appreciate everything.”

“We appreciate you,” Piccolo interjected.

Prior to the brief presentation, Jok Mayak Leet said the outpouring of support from the community has been incredible.

“It’s a really great community,” he said. “We appreciate all the prayers and the help. People have reached out to us to help as much as they can. It’s been going great. We appreciate all the help. Thank you.”

The woman who police said was driving the vehicle that hit Ayuen, Van Nguyen, 18, has been cited for operating to endanger, speeding and failure to yield to a pedestrian in the roadway.

Police say that speed was a factor in the crash that put Ayuen Leet in the hospital.

And speed is a subject that weighs heavy on the minds of the merchants, restaurateurs and shop owners on Shrewsbury Street.

Officials are considering reducing the citywide speed limit from 30 to 25, with 20-mile-per-hour zones in some locations, as one way to respond to a high number of crashes this year, at least 90 of which have involved pedestrians or bicyclists.

Piccolo said he doesn’t think a speed reduction is the answer to problems on Shrewsbury Street.

“We’re going to need a little monitoring. We can’t put in a speed bump. It’s an ambulance route. But, maybe, the presence of a police car, Friday and Saturday night, that could help,” Piccolo said. “People are in a hurry to go everywhere. Every day, every night, people are in a hurry.”

Paul Barber, owner of The Flying Rhino Café and Watering Hole at 278 Shrewsbury St., said the city should reexamine the design of Shrewsbury Street and see what can be done to make it safer.

“A 13-year-old girl should be safe crossing Shrewsbury Street,” Barber said. “It’s a concerning issue to us on Shrewsbury Street. We’re always contacting the police, telling them that they’re speeding and try to get people to be aware that it’s very dangerous, and try to get better lighting and all that for crosswalks and ways we can slow down the traffic.”

George Gilligan, the former owner of Central Mass. Scuba at 304 Shrewsbury St., also chimed in on the issue.

“I had a business on Shrewsbury Street and I’ve seen cars pass ambulances with their lights on,” Gilligan said. “Speed is an issue.”

Mero-Carlson described the speed issue on Shrewsbury Street as “out of control.”

“Shrewsbury Street is a real problem in the city because nobody is slowing down,” she said. “With all of the merchants on Shrewsbury Street, it’s pretty dangerous for people to be crossing the street. We definitely need more enforcement. … I’m not giving up on speed humps on Shrewsbury Street because, maybe, that’s what has to happen. They’ve done in Boston. So if Boston can do them, why not Worcester?”

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: 'A really great community': Family of girl in coma from crash thanks Worcester for support