An 11-year-old girl has been taken off a ventilator and is recovering but has a long road ahead after she was struck by a truck while riding her bicycle in McHenry.
The McHenry Police Department and McHenry Township Fire Protection District responded around 4:38 p.m. Friday to the intersection of Curran Road and Dartmoor Drive for a vehicle crash with injuries.
McHenry Deputy Police Chief Thomas Walsh said officers arrived to find a crash involving a vehicle and a bicyclist.
A preliminary investigation showed the bicyclist was struck by a gray 2023 Ford F-150, which had been traveling south on Curran Road.
The bicyclist, an 11-year-old girl from McHenry, was transported by ambulance to Northwestern Medicine McHenry Hospital, Walsh said.
The ambulance met with a LifeNet helicopter at their helipad and the child was transferred to the helicopter for transport.
The helicopter flew the victim to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge for treatment of serious injuries.
The driver of the Ford, a 74-year-old woman, and the passenger, a 79-year-old man, were both uninjured.
Walsh said there were no indications that alcohol or drugs played a factor in the crash.
The McHenry County Regional Crash Assistance Team responded to the scene to conduct a crash investigation.
The team consists of police officers from the McHenry Police Department, Woodstock Police Department, Spring Grove Police Department, Harvard Police Department, Cary Police Department and the Johnsburg Police Department.
Walsh did not say who was believed to be at fault in the crash.
Gabriella Vagnoli, who is organizing a fundraiser on behalf of the family, said the girl, Moira Arjona, was crossing the road a marked pedestrian crossing when she was struck by the truck.
“While she is not in danger for her life thankfully, the road to recovery will be long and in these situations the stress on the family is enough without having to be compounded with worrying about expenses or bills or loss of income,” Vagnoli said.
“For those of you who know Moira, you know that she is a wonderful, loving, amazing girl full of energy and life,” Vagnoli added.
Arjona suffered a punctured lung, fractured ribs, bruised spine and a fractured skull.
She was put on a ventilator and sedated but was taken off of the ventilator on Sunday.
“Moira is awake and extubated! She is already asking for her phone to text her friends and I bet pretty soon she’s going to be bossing all of the nurses and doctors around!” Vagnoli said.
A GoFundMe account has raised over $6,000 for Arjona’s family.