Dunellen teens injured in Times Square crash face long road to recovery

DUNELLEN — The Dunellen High School students severely injured when Richard Rojas drove his car onto the sidewalk in Times Square both face several surgeries and a long recovery.

A GoFundMe page was established for Jessica Williams, 19, who was identified as one of the 23 people injured on Thursday when Rojas plowed through the crowd tossing people aside before his car flipped onto its side when he ran into a metal bollard in the sidewalk.

"She is strong, she is a fighter, and she will pull through this," her cousin Nicole Guild wrote on the page. Guild wrote that Williams suffered a fractured pelvis and a broken leg. Her spleen was removed on Saturday and she is in traction under heavy sedation, according to Guild.

Guild wrote that Williams was in New York for "Senior Skip Day."

"High school prom and graduation for Dunellen are just weeks away and the excitement of all of that has been ripped away from her as she is now fighting for her life. Jessica is one of the most loving people I know and has such a passion for life. Her road to recovery is going to be lengthy and expensive."

Destiny Lightfoot, 18, was identified as the other Dunellen senior in a GoFundMe page created by Micaellah Acosta, who identities herself as a friend."(Lightfoot) broke her tibia in her left leg now having a titanium rod and screws to support her leg and a muscle fracture in her right foot. Destiny has gone through her surgery but is still in an immense amount of pain/drowsiness and being given a lot of medication," Acosta wrote.

"She is one of the most loving, caring and selfless people I know," Acosta wrote.

“These girls — members of the Dunellen High School Class of 2017 — are in the thoughts and prayers of everyone in the Dunellen educational community as well as the community at large,” Dunellen High School principal Gene Mosely said in a statement to New Jersey 101.5. “We wish them Godspeed for a complete recovery.”

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com.

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