Syracuse, NY - A Bridgeport mother of three remained unconscious Sunday with a skull fracture, broken neck, two broken legs and a broken left arm a week after a fatal crash on Route 31 in Sullivan, a relative said. Peggy Blume was driving May 24 to her job at Stonehedge Nursing Home in Chittenango when she saw an oncoming...
Peggy Blume of Bridgeport was injured in a head-on crash May 24.Syracuse, NY - A Bridgeport mother of three remained unconscious Sunday with a skull fracture, broken neck, two broken legs and a broken left arm a week after a fatal crash on Route 31 in Sullivan, a relative said.
Peggy Blume was driving May 24 to her job at Stonehedge Nursing Home in Chittenango when she saw an oncoming SUV passing a vehicle ahead of her. Blume pulled her minivan onto the shoulder of the road and stopped to try to avoid a collision.
But the SUV driven by Chelsea Kuss, 17, of Salina, slammed head-on into Blume’s vehicle, injuring Blume, and killing Kuss’ 17-year-old passenger, Victoria Deverso, a Liverpool High School student, according to state police.
Blume, 37, is in critical condition, in a medically-induced coma, unable to talk to her family or friends, said her sister-in-law, Kathy Blume, of Bridgeport.
Blume’s family doesn’t know how long she will remain hospitalized or how long her rehabilitation will last, Kathy Blume said. Family members have been trying to keep life as normal as possible for Blume’s three children, Craig, 14, Samantha, 12, and Sean, 8, who attend North Syracuse schools. Friends and members of the Bridgeport United Methodist Church have been delivering meals to Blume’s family. Plans are being made for a benefit fundraiser, tentatively set for Aug. 14, which will be Steve and Peggy’s 16th wedding anniversary.
The money raised will help pay for Blume’s medical bills and rehabilitation costs, Kathy Blume said.
“When she does come home, we’re not sure if it will be with a wheelchair or with crutches,” Kathy Blume said. “But she’s going to need the house a little more accessible because she has two broken legs and one broken left arm.”
Kuss, an OCM BOCES senior, remained in serious condition Sunday at Upstate University Hospital.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with everybody involved in this accident,” Kathy Blume said. “That’s what it was, an accident. It’s not something that was planned. It was a split-second decision. There’s a lot of pain. There were so many people impacted and our thoughts are with all of them.”
Catie O’Toole can be reached at cotoole@syracuse.com or 470-2134.
To help
Donations to benefit accident victim Peggy Blume can be sent to “The Peggy Blume Benefit Fund,” in care of Oneida Savings Bank, 104 S. Peterboro St., Canastota 13032, or dropped off at any Oneida Savings Bank location. Anyone willing to help make Blume’s home more accessible may e-mail Prayers4peggy@aol.com.