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I Swim Turns Tragic
Young woman hit by boat faces long-term recovery.
SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN
StalfWriter
A
swim during a family picnic
turned into a nightmarish
medical battle for Alexandra
Pereverzev, 23, of Farmington Hills,
when a ski boat ran over the young
woman and her boyfriend, leaving her
with devastating injuries.
"We were told the
boat was going very
fast and had four or
five people in it,"
said Vladimir Sulla
of West Bloomfield,
Alexandra's uncle
and family
spokesman.
"Because of the
speed and the
Alexandra
amount of people
Pereverzev
inside, the nose of
the boat went up
and the driver could not see Alexandra
and her boyfriend in the water."
According to Sulla, when the boat's
pilot realized she hit the couple who
had been swimming offshore June 26 at
the Island Lake Recreation Area near
Brighton, she went to help them.
"They took them on the boat and
called 911," Sulla said.
Alexandra was flown by helicopter to
the University of Michigan Medical
Center in Ann Arbor, where she will be
for about another month.
Meanwhile, back on shore,
Alexandra's mother, Irina, answered her
daughter's ringing cell phone.
"It was the hospital calling her," Sulla
said.
"The only number her boyfriend
knew was Alexandra's cell phone num-
ber, so he gave it to them at the hospi-
tal and my sister, Irina, who couldn't
see what had happened from where she
was on the shore, answered it and
immediately went to her daughter."
Within hours of the mid-evening
accident, Alexandra was undergoing
brain surgery.
"At around midnight, the doctor said
he took part of her brain out on the left
side, which left her paralyzed on her
right side and unable to speak," Sulla
said. "Then they gave her an hour to
rest and did very complicated surgery
on her injured left hand. She had a sec-
ond surgery on her hand a few days
later."
"I talked to the doctor that first
night, and he didn't give even one little
word of hope," Sulla said. "He just said
the only goal was to save her life."
Within a few days, Alexandra, who
the family calls "Sasha," came out of
the coma she had been in since that
first evening. She was still unable to
speak or read.
But Sulla maintains, his niece's long-
term prognosis is good. "However, the
doctors say her recovery will take a long
time — maybe a year or two — but
there is no guarantee of 100 percent
healing," he said. "Because Sasha still
cannot move her right arm and because
we are not sure her left hand will ever
be functional, there is a chance she will
be disabled for a very long time."
Alexandra is a graduate of Walled
Lake Western High School and was
about to start her senior year atWayne
State University in Detroit. Instead, she
has been hospitalized since the acci-
dent, according to her uncle.
Alexandra's boyfriend has undergone
three surgical procedures on his right
hand, which Sulla said was his only
major injury. "His hand was severely
damaged; but his cast finally came off,
and the hope is that his hand will func-
tion normally," he said.
With the case still open, Green Oak
Township police, who responded to the
initial 911 call, declined comment.
Because Alexandra's medical insur-
ance will not cover all of her medical
and therapy expenses, a fund has been
established to help offset costs. In addi-
tion, Alexandra's mother has taken a
medical leave of absence from her job
to be with her daughter.
"Compared to what we heard that
night of the accident, how Sasha is now
is really like a miracle," Sulla said. "But,
at the same time, it is still a very long
process if she will ever get back to nor-
mal. It is incredible how, in just one
minute, the life of a whole family was
turned upside down." ❑
To make a donation to help
cover the costs of medical care
and therapy for Alexandra
Pereverzev, send a check to:
Sasha's Medical Fund, Metro
Bank, P.O. BoX 8, Farmington,
MI 48332-0008.
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