Samantha Dayao continues to recover after January hit-and-run crash in Fitchburg
FITCHBURG — The father of a Fitchburg woman critically injured in a hit-and-run crash in January said he is “not happy” the alleged driver pleaded not guilty and is out on bail.
Samantha Dayao, 23, was walking on Water Street in Fitchburg at around 8:40 p.m. Jan. 17 when, authorities claim, she was struck by a car driven by Alvin Gaston, 42, of Ayer.
Gaston was arraigned Monday in Fitchburg District Court on a single charge of leaving the scene of a personal injury accident. He was released on $1,000 cash bail.
“The poor girl’s lost a lot,” Dayao’s father, Jose Gonzalez, said in a telephone interview Wednesday, “and it’s pretty despicable that the state of Massachusetts set the bail for situations like this.”
Dayao was walking home from the Wendy’s on North Main Street in Leominster when she was hit. According to court records, she could not get a ride home when her shift ended at 8 p.m.
After crossing the city line into Fitchburg, according to Gonzalez, Dayao stepped off the sidewalk and onto the shoulder of Water Street to avoid trash cans, snow and a patch of ice on the sidewalk.
According to court records, witnesses saw Gaston get out of the car after allegedly striking Dayao, approach her, run back to his car and drive away.
‘Tough’ recovery
Dayao spent three weeks in the hospital following the crash. She needed reconstructive surgery on her face and steel pins to mend some of her broken bones.
Last month, Gonzalez said, emergency brain surgery was performed when spinal fluid leaked into Dayao’s brain. She walks with a limp and a cane, he said, and she faces weekly physical therapy sessions. Dayao has short-term memory loss and speaks “a little slower,” he said. She has permanently lost her sense of smell and taste.
“It was tough,” Gonzalez said. “She was in critical condition to where she is now. It’s a blessing.”
Dayao has occasional flashbacks and bad dreams about the crash, her father said. While she does not remember being struck, he said, she remembers what happened afterward.
“She’s afraid to walk. She’s afraid to do one foot in front of the other,” Gonzalez said. “She’s afraid to walk anywhere, so we have to drive her.”
It will be at least six months to a year before Dayao, who graduated from Leominster High School in 2017 and has a 6-year-old son can go back to work.
In the meantime, Dayao’s family is raising money through a GoFundMe campaign to pay for the medical expenses they have incurred since the January crash. The fundraiser has brought in more than $28,000 as of Wednesday afternoon.
“We’re grateful for what we got for her,” Gonzalez said. “It doesn’t even put a dent in the $130,000 for medical bills.”
In addition, Gonzalez said he will continue to “bring some sort of awareness to the situation,” including why the person who allegedly struck his daughter is facing just one charge while a man accused of hitting a Boylston police officer during an operation in Fitchburg in February is facing more serious charges.
“I don’t want her accident to go in vain,” Gonzalez said.
To donate to the fundraiser for Dayao, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/7rzne-help-samantha-dayao.
This article originally appeared on Leominster Champion: Samantha Dayao continues recovery after hit-and-run crash in January
