Mary-Noah Ndateramye’s life has changed a lot in six months.
She was involved in a crash in November that left her 10-year-old daughter in a coma.
But for the first time since the crash, Ndateramye’s daughter spoke a few words this week— a major milestone in the girl’s recovery from a brain injury.
“She said ‘Hello, mom’. For me, it was like ‘Oh my God’, Ndateramye said. “I called the nurse right away. That was really emotional because spending five months in here not hearing anything. That was amazing.”
With a teddy bear by her side, Adassa Craig lays in a hospital bed at the Stollery Children’s Hospital staring at Ndateramye. Craig’s movement is limited, as her mother sings to her in French while clutching her hand.
Ndateramye, a French teacher, sings a song similar to one taught to elementary students to get them to learn French and sing along. She’s using it to encourage Craig to speak or emulate any of the sounds.
“It’s going be a really, really long journey because of the severity of her brain injury,” she said. “It’s going to take awhile.”
Mary-Noah Ndateramye is hopeful for her daughter Adassa Craig to recover from a brain injury she sustained in an Edmonton crash. 1:31
It was November of last year when Ndateramye and Craig were on their daily commute from Edmonton to Fort Saskatchewan to start school. The roads were slick, as Edmonton police reported 134 collisions, including six injuries.
The two were on Manning Drive when their car approached a red light.
“When I was trying to stop, my tires skid and the rest happened really fast,” said Ndateramye.
The car slid into traffic and the passenger side of the car was hit by a bus. Craig was seriously injured.
Ndateramye said an ambulance was driving by, and brought the two of them to hospital. Her injuries were minor.
Ndateramye describes Craig as a social butterfly who loved to sing and dance before her brain injury.
“Her friend called her ‘the councillor,’ because she was the one who would, in any dispute, calm everyone and tell them what to do,” Ndateramye said.
A photo shows Adassa Craig before she suffered a brain injury in a crash in November. (GoFundMe)
Help for special care
Ndateramye is expecting Craig to be released from hospital within the next month. Her home isn’t accessible for Craig’s needs, so she plans to have her live at a group home for children with special needs. But she eventually wants to move into a house that can suit Craig’s needs.
“It’s really hard to find an accessible home,” she said.
On May 5, friends of Ndateramye will hold a benefit concert, with proceeds going towards care need costs for Adassa. Ndateramye is planning to bring Adassa to the concert, which will be the first time she’s left the hospital since she was injured six months ago.
Ndateramye, a single mother of two, hasn’t returned to her job as a French teacher. She plans to continue to spend her days communicating with Adassa to get her to take slow steps to recovery.
“She’s going to be my student for awhile,” Ndateramye said.