Star field hockey player moved to care of Bryn Mawr Brain Injury Unit
Posted on April 3, 2008
Antoinette Lucas is a bit more upbeat than she was two weeks ago. The JMU field hockey coach’s star player had been struck by a car and had to be medivaced to the hospital. Lucas was optimistic Tuesday when she said that sophomore Meghan Bain is recovering faster than expected.
“This kid could have been killed 16 days ago,” JMU field hockey coach Antoinette Lucas said in a phone interview Tuesday. “The doctors can’t believe she is about to be discharged.”
After suffering multiple facial fractures and severe bruising to the frontal lobe of her brain, Bain was recently transferred from the University of Virginia Hospital to the Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital in Malvern, Pa.
A car struck Bain on March 15 at about 1 a.m. as she was crossing Neff Avenue, near the entrance to the Stone Gate Apartments. The Harrisonburg Rescue Squad treated her before she was lifted to UVA.
No charges have been filed against 60-year-old Hsin-Lung Chuang, the driver of the 1994 Toyota sedan involved in the accident.
“Every day she’s healed faster than you’d expect,” Lucas said. “Swelling’s gone down in her face and the fractures are healing.”
Her father, Bryan, said in a phone interview Wednesday that Meghan will be released next Tuesday and will begin an outpatient rehabilitation program in her hometown of Berlin N.J.
Bain was gradually taken off medications and out of a medically induced coma over a period of seven to eight days at UVA, according to Lucas. She was moved to Bryn Mawr because of the specialty with its Brain Injury Unit and since it is less than an hour and a half away from Berlin.
“She doesn’t appear to have any permanent brain damage,” Bryan said. “She’s very fortunate that the [emergency medical technicians] got to her so quickly, gave her the perfect treatment and the right medications.”
Lucas planned on speaking with Bain on Wednesday for the first time since the accident, but has been in constant contact with the family and teammates who have visited.
“[Meghan’s] pretty forgetful as far as remembering things like what her apartment looks like,” Lucas said. “It’s hard to understand with a brain injury. There’s moments when she’s talking and laughing, but she’s bored.”
There are no updates in the case, according to Harrisonburg Police. Lt. Kurt Boshart said in a voice message Tuesday that the accident was still under review by the
Commonwealth’s attorney.
Bain broke no team rules by being out in the early morning hours, according to Lucas.
“In the off-season we have some rules in place before practice times and meetings,” Lucas said. “But every year as a coach you learn more and more about what your team’s up to.”
As a freshman Bain was named the National Rookie of the Year by womensfieldhockey.com and made first-team All-Colonial Athletic Association and was the conference Rookie of the Year. She scored 16 goals in her first season and added 11 more in 2007.
“The university made it clear that Meg is one of their own,” Bryan said. “Whether she ever steps on the field again is not a concern. I feel they have her long term interest at heart, not whether she can help win on the field.”
