Putnam County teen heads home after more than a year in the hospital following car crash
A major milestone for a teenage girl from Putnam County who was left with a traumatic brain injury after a car accident.
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It was a major milestone for a teenage girl from Putnam County who was left with a traumatic brain injury after a car crash. After more than a year at the Blythedale Children's Hospital, Theresa Timmons is finally going home.
"I just felt in my heart, I knew we would get there," says Theresa's mom, Laura Timmons.
An emotional "clap out" happened Thursday at the hospital in Valhalla. It was in celebration of Theresa's courageous recovery.
In December of 2023, Theresa was in a car accident in Cortlandt. It left her with a traumatic brain injury. She was just 16 at the time.
Since then, she has been in intensive rehabilitation at the hospital.
Her family, friends and medical staff say she has made huge strides, even relearning how to walk and talk.
"It is a miracle, honestly. She is just one of those kiddos that came in, she was pretty devastated and now she's an entirely different person," says Mary Kate Filos, an inpatient social worker at Blythedale Children's Hospital.
Theresa will still be a familiar face around Blythedale. She will be back for class with the Mount Pleasant Blythedale Union Free School District. That's where she will continue to get medical oversight and care. At night, she will go back home to Cold Spring.
"She just 100% is determined to get better," says Laura Timmons.
After the sendoff at the hospital on Thursday, Theresa was escorted home by first responders, including paramedic Richard Blackley, who was there the night of the crash.
"She was tenacious that night, seeing her walk out today was just mind-blowing," says Blackley.
News 12 spoke with Theresa about Thursday's beautiful sendoff.
"I felt like someone famous," she says.
