Family of car wreck victim urge safety

Danielle Switalski

The Montana Highway Patrol responded to a two-car accident the morning of Friday, November 27 on Highway 28, a few miles North of Plains when a three-passenger vehicle hit a patch of black ice and collided into an oncoming pickup, splitting the car in half.

Shawn Somali of Montana highway patrol arrived at the scene of the accident at 7:30 a.m. The driver of the pickup and the driver of the car, Luke Dennison of Kalispell, along with one of the car’s passengers, Kaliana, 19, only suffered minor injuries, however Ku’uipo, 17, Kaliana’s sister, was thrown from the vehicle and suffered severe, life-threatening injuries. After undergoing surgery at Clark Fork Valley Hospital, Ku’uipo was life-flighted to Harbor View Trauma Center in Seattle.

Kaliana and Ku’uipo were headed on a snowboarding trip when the accident occurred just outside of Plains.

The family of Kaliana and Ku’uipo are now speaking out and urging caution to Montana drivers as the winter roads are bound to create icy driving conditions. The family is also urging drivers to make sure they have insurance as the driver of the pickup did but the family's vehicle did.

Ku’uipo and Kaliana are from Hawaii and are currently living in Proctor with their aunt and uncle, Rick and Mindy Breckinridge while attending school. The accident occurred when they were on their way snowboarding.

Ku’uipo has had over six surgeries to correct the injuries from the crash that, according to Breckinridge, will most likely leave her paralyzed from the waist down.

“The surgeon (from Seattle) said ‘I’ve never heard of Plains, Montana, but those doctors saved her life.’ That’s pretty impressive for the type of injury and seriousness of it. I want people to know that Clark Fork Valley Hospital is a top notch place,” said Breckinridge.

If anything positive comes out of this accident, Breckinridge wants to let drivers in Montana know that they must use caution when on the road.

He also wants people to know that “spinal cord injuries are a life changing event and independence is what we have to stress with these injuries, they aren’t cripples, they need to make sure independence is available to them and encourage that.”

Since the driver does not have car insurance and Ku’uipo does not have medical insurance, the family is asking for help in defraying some of the high medical expenses.

To read more about Ku’uipo’s story or to donate, please visit http://www.oursweetheart.com.