Versailles mother advocates for safety seats after crash paralyzes daughter

VERSAILLES, Ky. (WTVQ) – A Woodford County mother has a message for all parents; be sure to correctly buckle up your kids. It’s a lesson she says she learned the hard way.

Rachel and Mia Naedele are using a car crash to spread a message of safety.

Back in October, Rachel was driving her daughter, Mia, to school when she lost control of the vehicle, veering off the road and colliding with a tree. Mia suffered injuries to her spinal cord in the accident, and was left paralyzed. If that burden wasn’t enough, Rachel, who had allowed Mia to ride in the front seat of the car for the short ride, has also suffered under a weight of guilt for lapsing from safety protocols.

“If I can share our pain for hope; to help parents, to save a child’s life, to save children from injury, or worse,” said Naedele.

She now uses her experience to educate parents about making sure their children are properly and safely restrained in a car.

In the face of these challenges, the family has been buoyed by their community, and other support systems. Now, they are aiming to raise money for a car to drive Mia to and from school and her medical appointments. They hope a fundraiser, hosted on GoFundMe, will help them raise $6,000 dollars for the vehicle. At the time of this writing, they have collected more than $1,500.

If you would like to help, you can access the GoFundMe account here.

For more information on child car safety, visit safekids.org, and thecarseatlady.com.