Kansas high school basketball player, mother out of hospital after Louisville crash
Ava Jones, a star high school basketball player from Kansas and Iowa women's basketball commit, and her mother will be moved out of the intensive care unit at U of L Hospital to the Frazier Rehab Center this week after they were hit earlier this month by a driver in downtown Louisville in an incident that left Ava's father dead.
According to social media updates, Ava Jones is out of the intensive care unit, and her mother, Amy Jones, is expected to be out of the ICU this week. Both will be put in the same room at the rehab facility.
"Ava has shown a lot of improvement," said Mary Jones, Ava's grandmother and Trey Jones' mother. "We want the girls close together for now but intend to find placement closer to home."
Both Ava and Amy Jones came off ventilators last Thursday and were able to breathe on their own. Trey Jones, husband to Amy Jones and father to Ava, died last week after succumbing to his injuries from the July 5 crash on a sidewalk by Second and Market streets in downtown Louisville while the family was in town for an AAU basketball tournament.
On July 10, the hospital did an honor walk for Trey where family could see him for the last time before being operated on to donate his organs.
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The driver of the vehicle that hit the family, a 33-year-old Lexington, Indiana, man, has been charged with murder and other offenses in connection with the crash. Police said the man admitted to taking hydrocodone the day of the crash and that he "so tired that he could not make the turn."
Fundraisers for Jones family
Numerous fundraisers have been scheduled or already set up to support the Jones family, including a field day in August at Hutchinson High School.
More: Here's how you can help Ava Jones and her family, from donations to fundraisers
Community members can also donate to the Jones fund directly to the People's Bank and Trust in Hutchinson and Nickerson. The Jones Family GoFundMe page has raised over $134,000 as of Thursday.
There are also shirts available to purchase to show support for the Jones family. The link can be found on the Jones Family Updates Facebook group and are $20.
Billy Watson is the sports reporter for The Hutchinson News in Hutchinson, Kansas, part of the USA TODAY Network. To reach out about story ideas, you can send an email to wwatson@gannett.com or send a direct message on Twitter @hutchsports or @billywatson4l.
This article originally appeared on The Hutchinson News: Kansas basketball star Ava Jones, mother out of Louisville hospital
