Community Corner
Critically Injured Melrose Teen Slowly Improving
Janessa Gordon was injured in a Maine car crash just days before her high school graduation.
Janessa Gordon, the Melrose teen who was critically injured in a Maine car crash just days before her high school graduation, is slowly improving, now over a week later.
On Tuesday, doctors at a Maine hospital removed Gordon’s breathing tubes, and she is now breathing on her own and eating ice chips, according to updates from her mother on a GoFundMe page and her sister’s Twitter.
The news followed days of positive steps, where Gordon whispered her age to a nurse, followed doctors’ commands and even gave a thumbs up.
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Gordon, 18, was the front-seat passenger in a one-car rollover on Route 4 in Rangeley, Maine, on Sunday, June 1. Gordon was not wearing a seatbelt. The car’s other passengers suffered minor injuries.
Gordon and about 20 of her Northeast Metro Tech classmates had rented a cottage in Maine for the weekend to celebrate their upcoming graduation on Friday, June 6.
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In an emotional moment at graduation, Gordon’s sister, Giana, accepted her diploma on her behalf to a standing ovation.
The GoFundMe page (above), which was set up to help Gordon’s parents with expenses, including their lodging near the hospital, had raised more than $6,000 as of Tuesday afternoon.
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