Joyous homecoming greets WSU grad left for dead
WOODINVILLE, Wash. - It was a joyful homecoming Saturday for a young woman who was left to die on a country road after she was mysteriously thrown from a car 2 1/2 months ago in Eastern Washington.
Doctors say the odds were stacked against Kristen Grindley when she was first found, soaked in blood, on the pavement. Her parents were told she was only five minutes away from dying.
But after a month in the hospital and even longer in rehab, she's bounced back - and ready to live life.
She returned home to her family and friends in Woodinville, who embraced her withhugs and tears - elated to see her again.
A lot of people thought they never would.
"What we went through is probably the toughest thing any parent would ever have to face," says her father, Rick Grindley. "And to have her back is just a miracle, that she's here and back with us."
On Nov. 11, Kristen was found unconscious, covered in blood, in the middle of a rural road near Pullman. Police say she either fell out of a car, or was pushed from one - it's still not clear what happened.
The Washington State University graduate spent more than two months in a Spokane hospital with extensive injuries, and memory loss is still an issue.
She doesn't remember the accident - or even entire months.
"Last thing I can remember was in May when I graduated. That's the last thing I can remember," she says. "I don't remember anything from summer, anything from the beginning of September - anything like that."
Kristen says she feels about 80 percent recuperated, though there's much recovery that needs to happen. She says she'll take it slow, as she and her family make up for lost time.
"We're going to celebrate. My daughters' two birthdays that we missed in November, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's - just get back to normal."
Says her dad: "I'm feeling very good in terms of her prognosis. I'm still counting on a 100 percent recovery."
A family nearly ripped apart - now reunited.
"But after this, I'm just kind of going day by day and guessing where I'm going," Kristen says.
As for the investigation, detectives named Kristen's boyfriend at the time as a person of interest.
He said he was with an ex-girlfriend at the time of the accident, then went looking for Grindley when she didn't come home.
His car has been seized as evidence, but no charges have been filed against him.
Doctors say the odds were stacked against Kristen Grindley when she was first found, soaked in blood, on the pavement. Her parents were told she was only five minutes away from dying.
But after a month in the hospital and even longer in rehab, she's bounced back - and ready to live life.
She returned home to her family and friends in Woodinville, who embraced her withhugs and tears - elated to see her again.
A lot of people thought they never would.
"What we went through is probably the toughest thing any parent would ever have to face," says her father, Rick Grindley. "And to have her back is just a miracle, that she's here and back with us."
On Nov. 11, Kristen was found unconscious, covered in blood, in the middle of a rural road near Pullman. Police say she either fell out of a car, or was pushed from one - it's still not clear what happened.
The Washington State University graduate spent more than two months in a Spokane hospital with extensive injuries, and memory loss is still an issue.
She doesn't remember the accident - or even entire months.
"Last thing I can remember was in May when I graduated. That's the last thing I can remember," she says. "I don't remember anything from summer, anything from the beginning of September - anything like that."
Kristen says she feels about 80 percent recuperated, though there's much recovery that needs to happen. She says she'll take it slow, as she and her family make up for lost time.
"We're going to celebrate. My daughters' two birthdays that we missed in November, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's - just get back to normal."
Says her dad: "I'm feeling very good in terms of her prognosis. I'm still counting on a 100 percent recovery."
A family nearly ripped apart - now reunited.
"But after this, I'm just kind of going day by day and guessing where I'm going," Kristen says.
As for the investigation, detectives named Kristen's boyfriend at the time as a person of interest.
He said he was with an ex-girlfriend at the time of the accident, then went looking for Grindley when she didn't come home.
His car has been seized as evidence, but no charges have been filed against him.