Help Zawadi Long

Hi everyone. Some absolutely awful news about a dear member of our community – Zawadi Long. You may know her from around town or school, and perhaps have heard her – she’s a longtime voice on WVEW in a psa for her dad’s show Buttahmilk. I’ve known her since she was little, and she even helped me and Lise move a few years back.

She was in an accident in Jamaica.  Family has set up a Go Fund Me account:  https://gofund.me/7b93e38a

Here’s what her family says on that page:

“Greetings, I’m Auntie Sara and I’m fundraising for Zawadi – a smart, talented, and beautiful 13-year-old girl – and her family after a tragic vehicle accident on May 14 forever changed their lives and their community. Moments away from being safely dropped off after school, the vehicle that was carrying Zawadi and five schoolmates struck a construction truck full of boulders.

Zawadi was wrapping up her school year as a 7th grader and preparing to move back to her beloved home state of Vermont, after living abroad for two years in her mother’s hometown near Buff Bay, Jamaica.

Zawadi has suffered extensive brain injuries. As I write, she is in critical condition in the intensive care unit at a hospital in Kingston, in a medically induced coma. Zawadi’s family, friends and beloved community are intensively praying for Zawadi’s healing over the next few days, and hope to see improvement that will determine the next steps, which could include surgery, MedEvac for care in the United States, and/or extensive rehabilitation.

Please donate now to help the family cover medical costs incurred and anticipated future costs for medical care, travel, and related support. All donations will go toward supporting Zawadi’s care and recovery.

Unfortunately, the accident instantly claimed the lives of two of Zawadi’s classmates. We join the Titchfield High School and Port Antonio community in mourning and send our deep condolences to the Wynter and Lindsay families for the loss of their children.

We are thankful for the contributions of our beloved community in Vermont, Jamaica, and beyond. Many have come to admire Zawadi for her feisty spirit, her smarts, and her creative passion for art, especially anime. The endearing and hilarious raspy voice she had as a child has matured into a beautiful singing voice.

We appreciate your donations, prayers, and support of Zawadi and her family at this time, especially her mother, Kimona Hall, her father, Daniel Long, her sister Christol, Kim’s long-time partner Don, and grandparents, aunties, uncles, and cousins. We also send care to the families of the three other children who remain hospitalized in critical condition.

THANK YOU for donating — any amount is welcome and appreciated. And thank you for sharing this fundraiser with your circles.”

and

“Dear friends and family, near and far: We would like to extend a deep thank you to everyone who has generously donated towards Zawadi’s care and healing. We write to you with tears of gratitude; Zawadi has been taken off her ventilator!

After meeting with her team of neurologists, we learned that her recent CT scans show that the bleeding has halted and her swelling has started to reduce. This means that Zawadi will thankfully not require brain surgery. She is still under sedation, she still has a feeding tube, and she’s on 3% oxygen. The plan now is to continue to monitor her progress and carefully wean her off the sedation.

We are so grateful for all of your love and positivity. Your prayers are tremendously helping to hold and heal Zawadi and give our family strength. Words cannot describe how much we appreciate all the love and support that we’ve received throughout the worst nightmare of our lives. Please, please continue praying for her full recovery.

Thank you for every prayer, every dollar, and for sharing our story and this fundraiser asking for help.

We also ask for you all to send prayers to David Johnson; one of Zawadi’s classmates who was in the taxi on that fateful day. We are hearing that David played an instrumental role by shielding Zawadi as they all braced for impact. David remains in critical condition in the same Kingston Hospital after undergoing major neurosurgery. David’s immediate instinct to protect Zawadi is truly astounding and it may have saved her life.

We are determined to bring Zawadi home to the United States as soon as she has medical stability, and we have the means to do so. We are actively raising funds for her rising medical costs and the big push ahead to bring her home. With your support, we are grateful for the day when we can announce that this can happen!

Much Love,
Christol (Zawadi’s sister)”

….

If you are in a position to help out, please do.

Zawadi is a bright light in a dark world and we need her.

https://gofund.me/7b93e38a