North Vancouver teen makes progress after January hit-and-run

NORTH VANCOUVER (CityNews) – Seventeen-year-old Grace Haines, who was left in a coma following a January hit-and-run in North Vancouver, is making progress in her rehabilitation.

“We’re seeing those first steps, and it’s amazing,” Grace’s father Chris Haines tells CityNews Vancouver.

The teen was out for a nighttime run when a car hit her in the dark, leaving her seriously injured. She was placed in a medically-induced coma.

“When Grace was hit by the car, she suffered a head trauma,” her father said, adding a resulting brain bleed required surgery.

A hit-and-run in North Vancouver left 17-year-old Grace Haines badly injured, and in a medically-induced coma two months ago. Thankfully, she's getting better. @KierJunos catches up with her dad Chris, who talks about Grace's road to recovery. #LiftingForGrace pic.twitter.com/YYtzdvf6bk

— CityNews 1130 Vancouver (Inactive) (@news1130) March 24, 2021

“The injury was to the corpus collosum — which is a series of nerves which connects the left and right hemisphere,” Haines explained. “And so, that enables her left hand to talk to her right hand. With the damage to that, when she woke up, she was basically paralyzed on her left side. So, her left eye couldn’t open, and it’s still fairly closed — she wears an eyepatch now, because she has very blurred vision — and she couldn’t move her left side. But with the therapy at BC Children’s Hospital and all the rehabilitation they’ve been doing, now she’s able to move that left hand, and now she’s able to move her left arm.”

Haines says his daughter had to learn how to walk all over again, and with the help of speech therapists, she’s able to talk again too.

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Grace is a dedicated athlete. In an effort to bring donations to the Lions Gate Hospital Foundation, Haines encouraged people to share their workout videos online, with the hashtag #LiftingForGrace.

It got so much traction, even Canada’s Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan did some chin-ups for her.

“I’m wishing you a speedy recovery, so I’m gonna do these chin-ups in honour of you,” Sajjan said in his video.

“For everyone to do that, thank you,” Haines said. “It made such a difference to Grace to see it. She just loved it, and I could see her eyes light up and the smile. She’s committed to lifting every pound back when she’s able to.”

Grace, the guys at the hall are thinking of you. You got this! @LGHFoundation #liftingforgrace #liftforgrace pic.twitter.com/aJgCwcl2nz

— North Vancouver City Fire Dept (@NVCFD) February 19, 2021

It’s still a long road to a full recovery for Grace. She’s been accepted to some prestigious Canadian universities for engineering, but doctors say her enrollment should be delayed. In the meantime, she’s continuing her therapies.

“April 1st — which is right before the Easter Long Weekend — is her birthday. She’ll turn 18 that day. And to be able to be home that night for her birthday, it’ll just be amazing if we can do it,” Haines said.