Pretty Lauren Scruggs had a horrific accident last week, walking into a moving airplane propeller, but she is showing some signs of improvement.
The 23-year-old model and magazine editor on Dec. 3 had just gotten off a plane at an airport in McKinney, Texas, and — apparenty trying to move toward a friend in the dark — she walked in front of the still-spinning propeller. She suffered severe injuries to her head, shoulder and arm. Doctors performed several surgeries on her, and had to amputate her left hand.
But this week “The Today” show on NBC and its website, Today.com, did an update on Plano, Texas, resident Scruggs, who edits the online fashion magazine LOLO and works as a model. Although she suffered lacerations to her face and a fractured skull, Scruggs facial nerves appear to be unaffected.
Her family has set up a website, CaringBridge.org, which reported that Scruggs has been able to smile and move her eyebrows. She has even been able to walk down a hall, and has had enough of an appetite to eat a bit. And she is able to count, which is a good sign as far as her cognitive abilities go.
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/laurenscruggs/journal
Scruggs remains in pain, but it has become more manageable, according to the website.
But despite her progress, Scruggs is not out of the woods. She still may lose her left eye, because of the damage to her face from the accident. And her rehabilitation will no doubt be a long one, even her father concedes.
Scruggs cannot remember the accident. But one person who posted a comment on Today.com said that any pilot should know well enough not to let passengers disembark until a plane’s propellers have stopped moving. We don’t know if that true or not, but it ought to be a rule.
