Woman dragged under vehicle in DTES wakes up month later

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VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – A woman who was left with life-altering injuries after being dragged for several blocks by a vehicle in October has woken up.

An update on a GoFundMe page set up for Desiree Evancio says the 24-year-old is aware of her injuries and set to undergo another surgery Monday to start rebuilding her lower lip.

Evancio is from Ontario, and her sister, Ashley Danh, is the only immediate family member she has in B.C.

Since Evancio’s accident, Danh has been running the “Hope for Desiree” GoFundMe page.

“She’s been quite awake for a number of days now, and has been able to write to communicate with family and friends and the nurses,” Danh wrote.

The update adds Evancio has been able to communicate with friends and doctors, although she doesn’t remember anything about the accident, which broke her jaw in three places and resulted in her losing her eye, nose, and mobility in some limbs.

“After all the news about her injuries, we told her about the fundraising. She knows about the go fund me, and events that’s been happening in her name, both in Ottawa and Vancouver,” Danh wrote.

“Although she can’t make much of a facial reaction to things right now, you could see it in her eye that a weight of financial burden was lifted from the many things running through her head.”

Police believe Evancio walked between a van and a trailer as it was stopped in traffic in the area of Hastings Street between Columbia Street and Jackson Avenue on Oct. 12. She was then dragged a while before the driver realized what had happened.

The driver, a man from the United States, was taken into custody after the crash, but has since been released.

Evancio is expected to be in the hospital for up to six months and the GoFundMe page has raised more than $220,000.

Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to clarify Evancio was not hit by the van.

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