A Utah CrossFit coach is fighting her way through a long recovery after a terrifying golf cart accident during a vacation in Mexico left her with a severe brain injury and fighting for her life.
Kerrie Olsen was traveling in Puerto Vallarta with her husband, Paul, and close friends Annie and Jamie Stagg when what was supposed to be a fun day suddenly turned into a nightmare.
According to Annie Stagg, the group had simply been driving around in a golf cart, laughing and reminiscing together, when the vehicle suddenly flipped over without warning.
“We were just driving around talking and laughing,” Annie told Fox 13 Salt Lake City. “Next thing you know, we’re in hell.”
The crash left Kerrie critically injured.
Friends say the owner of Utah’s SKOL CrossFit suffered a traumatic brain injury so severe that she had to undergo emergency brain surgery in Mexico after arriving unconscious at the hospital.
Doctors reportedly discovered a massive subdural hematoma, with dangerous bleeding around her brain causing it to shift several millimeters.
“Kerrie was rushed to the hospital unconscious and went straight into emergency brain surgery,” family friend Sicily Romano wrote on a GoFundMe page created to support the family.
“That surgery saved her life.”
Meanwhile, Annie Stagg also suffered serious injuries in the accident, including four broken ribs, a punctured lung, and an ankle injury.
The situation became even more emotional as Kerrie’s husband was reportedly only allowed to briefly visit her in the hospital while she remained in a medically induced coma.
“Hospitals in Mexico operate differently than what we are used to here,” Romano explained. “Paul is only allowed in the room with her one to two hours a day. The rest of the time, he stands outside her door watching her through the window.”
Friends and family members worked desperately behind the scenes to get Kerrie medically transported back to the United States.
Finally, on May 3, loved ones announced the mom of three would be flown back home while still intubated and under heavy medical supervision.
Even after the terrifying injury, Kerrie continued showing signs of fighting to survive.
“When they tried to reduce her sedation, she immediately tried to pull the breathing tube out herself,” Romano said. “Our girl is a fighter through and through.”
Two days later, Kerrie officially returned to the U.S., where her parents and three children were able to briefly see her before she was transferred into intensive care.
Then came another emotional breakthrough.
By May 8, family members announced Kerrie was breathing on her own after doctors removed her breathing tube.
“The progress she has made in such a short time has been nothing short of incredible,” Romano wrote.
Still, loved ones say the recovery process will be long and difficult as Kerrie undergoes physical therapy and additional medical procedures.
On May 11, Kerrie’s sister revealed she underwent another major surgery to reconstruct part of her skull using a custom ceramic implant after doctors were unable to reattach the original bone.
Thankfully, the surgery reportedly went perfectly.
“Four hours turned into two,” her sister shared online. “That means everything went absolutely perfect.”
Now, family and friends continue rallying around Kerrie as the fitness coach begins the next phase of what they hope will be a miraculous recovery.