Dallas Chambers, the Ball State junior who is in a coma after being involved in a car accident during Spring Break, is expected to be transferred to Indiana University Medical Center in Indianapolis this week.
Candice Skinner, Chambers's aunt, opened a bank account at the Ball State Federal Credit Union on Friday so people can donate money to help cover the cost of transferring Chambers from Florida to Indiana, Skinner said.
"I'm just doing this to help the family," Skinner said. "Right now we don't even know how much insurance will be able to cover."
Chambers was struck by a car while trying to cross a four-lane road in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., early March 10, Skinner said.
Chambers, a criminal justice and criminology major, suffered several fractures to the leg and a blow to the head. He was sent to the Brower General Medical Center, according to the Fort Lauderdale Police Department.
Chambers underwent emergency surgery immediately after the accident. He has been through three more surgeries since then, Skinner said. Medical center staff could not release detailed information about Chambers' status but said Monday that he was stable.
The family needs $13,000 up front to bring Chambers home to Indiana, Skinner said. Anyone can donate money to the account. People can make checks out to Candice Skinner on behalf of Dallas Chambers, JoAnn Pierce, the credit union's senior member service officer, said.
The account was opened Friday and will remain open until Skinner decides to close it, Pierce said. The account is an effective way for the family to collect the money they need, and Pierce hopes people are willing to donate, she said.
"There's only so much you can do on your own," Skinner said. "Even though he's in a coma, deep down I know that he knows his family is there. It's such a tragedy, so horrible, and it could have been any of them. He just needs prayers because he hasn't gotten better on his own."
Both of Chambers' parents have been at the hospital in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for the past week and a half, and neither have been to work since the accident, Skinner said.
David Fried, associate dean of students, said Skinner contacted the Ball State on Friday to update the university on Chambers' condition.
Chambers' injury was the only Spring Break-related injury he heard about this year, he said. During Ball State senior business major Kyle Trosky was killed in an automobile accident in Florida during Spring Break last year.
"You have hundreds, maybe thousands of students or more traveling over Spring Break," Fried said. "These sorts of things do happen -- we are a large university."
The university typically learns about such accidents from family members who contact the Ball State, Fried said.
"We work with them to provide notification for people and to provide withdrawal (from the university) if necessary," Fried said. "In Dallas' case he had to withdraw for the semester. We're all praying Dallas recovers fully from his injuries."
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