Recovering in hospital is not how any 17-year-old girl wants to spend their senior year. But friends of Adelaide Dunnfield say she's keeping her head up and hoping for a speedy recovery.
Adelaide’s best friend Alex Hutchings says that she is one of a kind.
“She is caring, she’s outgoing and she really pushed to try and do more,” he says.
Alex has been visiting Adelaide in the hospital twice a week ever since Adelaide was admitted with several broken bones and severe burns. ALex says she will be there for at least three to six months. It was all the result of Adelaide being pinned underneath a vehicle for nearly an hour.
The crash happened on MacLeod Drive a short distance away from the high school. The RCMP say Adelaide was on the hood of the car when she fell off and was hit by the vehicle, becoming trapped underneath.
The 19-year-old driver was arrested at the scene and later released. Police are still investigating.
“It almost seems unfair, you know? She’s done so much for the community and this was her year,” says Alex.
Adelaide’s volunteer resume is extensive. She helped raise nearly $25,000 for Muscular Dystrophy Canada and got to celebrate by pulling a fire truck.
She has participated in the Relay for Life, is a member of the army cadets and even received a rugby scholarship to the University of Prince Edward Island next fall.
Alex and his mother Michelle Bennett are organizing a fundraiser for Dunnfield at the legion in Sussex on Dec.16. They're hoping the town will come out and support the ambitious teen who has done so much for her community.
"We're also going to be having 50/50 draws, a silent auction, there's going to be a DJ. We've got some really great prizes being donated,” says Bennett.
The pair want to make sure the evening will boost Adelaide's spirits, and let her know that she didn't work so hard her entire life to have one accident take it all away.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Mary Cranston.
