The Prom Comes to Amanda : Friends and Family Keep Special Date With Girl in Coma

SANTA ANA — A month before her high school prom, head cheerleader Amanda Arthur chose her dress: a simple, elegant white satin onto which she had sewn beads and delicate fabric leaves.

Arthur, 17, wanted to make sure it would be a special night, her friends said. She had bought her boyfriend, Eric Freeman, a boutonniere and had a manicure.

But on Friday, she lay in a coma at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana, her prom dress hanging on a mannequin outside the intensive care unit. At its hem lay a bouquet of roses from Freeman, with a note asking if she would accompany him to the prom.

Arthur was one of 10 Newport Harbor High School students in a car that overturned on May 23, leaving one teenager dead and she and another boy in critical condition. Arthur suffered severe trauma to her head and brain.

On Friday, her friends and family decorated a hospital corridor to bring a piece of tonight’s prom to Arthur, and to help bring family and friends closer together. A third and important reason was to raise funds for Arthur’s medical bills; her parents are unemployed and have no health insurance.

Clutching a doll a child had given to Arthur “until she gets better,” Chris Maese, her mother, said the combined support of family, friends and school is crucial to her recovery.

“Amanda is going to recover 100%,” Maese said, fighting tears. “It might take us a while, but she’s going to be fine. I just want to say that with this awesome hospital and the power of all your prayers mixed together, Amanda’s going to be well.”

Photographs of Arthur covered corridor walls near the intensive care unit. Blue and white streamers and balloons graced handlebars. Trying to stay focused and busy, fellow cheerleaders transformed an otherwise drab hospital hallway into a record of memories and a taste of Saturday night.

Lisa Carter, the school’s cheerleading coach, called the last few weeks a “grieving process.” Arthur’s friends and family, she said, have “lived in this hospital day and night.”

“This is very therapeutic for them,” she said. “It gives them something to do, because they can’t really help her.”

Arthur’s close friend, Sydney Houston, 17, pointed to a picture of her and Amanda in curlers at an Anaheim McDonald’s earlier this year.

“It was our first [cheerleading] competition. We had to wake up early and eat, so we did our makeup and hair there,” she said. “I always had fun with Amanda.”

Fellow cheerleaders described Arthur as smart, outgoing and happy, as well as silly and loving.

Arthur’s friends spearheaded fund-raising efforts last week and have so far raised $10,000 through car washes and fund drives in front of local grocery stores. Cheerleading coach Lisa Callahan said $10,000 is a fraction of what may lie ahead for Arthur’s parents.

“There will be a lot of rehabilitation time, and it will be extremely expensive,” Callahan said. “We just pray that God gives us the ability to help her through this.”

Neurologist David Lombardi, one of Arthur’s doctors, said the high school junior’s abnormal movement of arms, legs and eyes indicate damage to her brain stem, which controls vital functions such as blood pressure and body temperature.

“I don’t know if she’ll get better,” Lombardi said. “It’s too soon to tell.”

The accident happened on a winding road in Newport Beach. After a night of partying, Jason Andrew Rausch, 18, the designated driver, apparently lost control while speeding on a curve on Irvine Avenue next to Upper Newport Bay with nine other teens packed in the Chevrolet Blazer, police said. Authorities believe Rausch was not driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Donald “Donnie” Bridgman, 18, was killed in the crash. Daniel Townsend, 18, the other student who was critically injured, was later released from Western Medical Center and is undergoing rehabilitation at St. Joseph Hospital, according to Trish Wilson, mother of Arthur’s friend Katie.

Newport Beach Police Lt. Doug Fletcher said police are still investigating the accident and will forward the results to the state attorney general’s office, which will decide whether to charge Rausch, Deputy Dist. Atty. Jack Sullens said.

“It’s a tremendous tragedy, but neither [Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi] nor the attorney general’s office wants to make a decision quickly without all of the facts in front of us,” Sullens said. “It goes without saying--we’ve lost one life and that’s more than enough tragedy we need to bear now.”

Tonight, after dinner and before the prom, couples dressed in formal attire are expected to visit Arthur, sign a giant get-well card and tape video messages for her.

“It’s hard,” said Jacque Ramirez, 15. “I know that she’s going to be with us soon. But it’s hard to cope. It’s hard to get through the day sometimes.”

Donations may be sent to: Amanda Arthur Recovery Fund, P.O. Box 3192, Newport Beach, CA 92659.