The parents of Carrie Sullivan embarked on a journey a year ago that no parent should ever have to endure. On Nov. 6, 2021, their 29-year-old daughter, a graduate of East Hampton High School, was in a horrific car accident in Brooklyn that left her paralyzed, and left the family needing help as she begins rehabilitation. The need is driven by the enormous and ongoing expenses that come with addressing the special needs of a paralyzed individual.
Ms. Sullivan was on a ventilator, a feeding tube, and needed a tracheotomy in the early days after the accident, but, as the parents note in a gofundme appeal, “although Carrie is a petite, 110 pounds when healthy, she worked out and is a fighter and was able to get off the ventilator and the feeding tube and breathe on her own, even after a bout with pneumonia.”
Carrie cannot walk yet or use her hands, but her parents are hopeful. “She is very anxious,” the Sullivans say on gofundme, “to get her fingers to move and give her the ability to feed herself and brush her teeth without help.”
“It has been a very long road,” said Jane Sullivan in a recent interview. “It was a horrific accident, but she’s come very, very far.”
One bright spot: Carrie was recently accepted for treatment at St. Mary’s Children’s Hospital, a top-tier rehabilitation facility in Bayside, Queens. Her parents, who have rented an apartment in nearby Astoria for their daughter and the family, are trying to secure a wheelchair.
Carrie stays busy playing Wordle and has been in contact with other East Enders who have successfully faced down similar life-changing accidents.
James Sullivan, her father, was almost at a loss for words when it came to discussing how he is tending to his own well-being during this exhausting time. “I don’t even know how to explain that,” he said after a long pause. “I stay busy working — I cook, I bring food in for them.”
Mr. Sullivan is the owner and president of Barn Board Builders in East Hampton. Carrie used to work for him part time, he said, before moving to the city. She was working for a watch company at the time of the accident. His daughter provides inspiration to carry on, he said. “I must say that Carrie is a real trooper. She says things like, ‘I’m supposed to be taking care of you, you’re not supposed to be taking care of me.’ ”
Contributions to the Sullivans can be made through gofund.me/b606ce4f.
This story has been updated since it was first published.
