and she was with a friend crossing Ronkonkoma Avenue near Division Road when the car hit them, hurling both their bodies into the air.
She was paralyzed after a car struck her in Lake Ronkonkoma, about a mile from her home, on Memorial Day 2018. Daily struggle to surviveįor Jennifer, a former Sachem High School East graduate who hoped to become an accountant, survival is a daily struggle.Ī portrait of Jennifer Wendal sits on a table by a window at her home in Ronkonkoma. Another 1,536 people were seriously injured on Long Island roads last year, many whose lives will be forever changed. Last year, 243 people were killed in Long Island crashes, the most since 2015. It was a 29% increase compared with 2019, the year before the COVID pandemic, which traffic experts and law enforcement officials said triggered a surge in dangerous driving.īut traffic fatalities don't tell the full story. Jennifer, her family and caregivers opened up to raise awareness about traffic safety. The crash not only took part of Jennifer’s life, Susan said, it dropped an extraordinary set of challenges on the family, including ongoing medical care, costs, and the physical and emotional toll. The Wendal family said while there is a focus on fatal collisions, less attention is given to serious crashes and the consequences for those seriously impacted.
