REDMOND, Wash. - A Redmond cheerleader is fighting just to walk again after an accident involving her car - and a school bus - put her in a coma.

And on Saturday night her high school community showed their support with a benefit dinner to help pay Jessie Follett's enormous medical bills.

Before the accident, Jessie devoted herself to gymnastics and dance. Now simple movements are a struggle. The family's insurance won't cover all the therapy she needs, so her cheer squad came up with a plan.

They came together at Redmond High School to share food, memories and money - all to help the 16-year-old.

The car crash put the cheerleader in a coma for two weeks. Although she's still hospitalized, girls from her squad visit as often as they can.

"She's very positive. She likes to make jokes and she tells us when we say random things and laughs at us - and laughs with us," says Britanny Polk.

Friends say Jessie has a passion for dance, and her routines show off her gymnastics training - as well as her impressive work ethic.

"She's always in (the gym) there working on her dances," Polk says.

But all that changed one afternoon as she was driving to a cheer practice. Jessie crossed the center line and smashed into a school bus.

Jessie badly injured her brain and severed the neurological connections to her muscles that make her so graceful in dance competitions.

"She has to completely relearn all her body motions, her muscle functions and all that kind of stuff, all over again," says her dad, Vince Follett.

He says Jessie's recovery will take time, but each day she gets a little closer to walking again.

In the meantime, the Redmond High School community is making miracles of its own.

"The outpouring from the community has been unbelievable," Follett says.

The dinner included a silent auction, which raised more than $5,500 to help with those mounting doctor bills.