In the wake of a bicycle accident that left Stonehill College junior Lauren Rauseo with serious injuries, the college plans to raise money in her honor.
Rauseo was studying abroad when she suffered a traumatic brain injury and multiple fractures in a bicycle crash in Spain on March 17. She remains in critical condition and in a medically coma.
Stonehill’s Student Government Association will sell bracelets at the school’s Lower Commons during lunch and dinner, with the proceeds benefitting Rauseo, who remains hospitalized. Members of the school community can also write letters and make posters to show support for Rauseo.
The Easton-based Catholic college’s campus ministry held a Mass to offer prayers to Rauseo in the wake of the accident.
“The Stonehill College community continues to pray for Lauren’s full recovery and offer support to her family,” the school said in a statement.
A pair of GoFundMe pages has been set up to help Rauseo’s family pay for the costs of her treatment, including bringing her back to Boston via Medflight to receive care at a specialized pediatric ICU trauma unit.
“The suddenness of this catastrophe has left Lauren’s family, and all of us who love her, grappling with the profound sense of helplessness,” Helen DeCosta, the organizer of one of the fundraisers, wrote. “Being thousands of miles away has only intensified our anxiety and desire to do something — anything — to aid in her recovery. Lauren’s parents have dropped everything to be by her side, their lives turned upside down as they navigate this nightmare.”
Rauseo received a $3,000 scholarship from the college to help pay for her study-abroad experience in Paris during the spring 2024 semester, the school said in a statement. She was living with a host family and another student from Tennessee.
“I believe studying abroad is helping me become a more worldly individual,” Rauseo said in the statement. “I am meeting a variety of people from different backgrounds and being exposed to new languages and cultures. I am also working hard to become more fluent in French. I’ve dedicated eight years to learning the language and I’m quite passionate about learning it.”
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Rauseo is a double major in English and communication at Stonehill, according to the school.
The fundraisers have a combined goal of $400,000 and have raised more than $200,000 from about 3,300 donations for Rauseo’s family thus far.
“The costs associated with Lauren’s medical care, including the intention to med flight her from Spain to Boston are staggering,” Ryan Desmarais wrote on the GoFundMe page. “Additionally, her parents are enduring expenses for accommodations near the hospital, meals, and other incidentals that are associated with being away from home.”
“Every contribution, no matter how big or small, will make a difference in Lauren’s fight for survival,” Desmarais continued. “Your generosity will help alleviate the financial burden on her family, allowing them to focus on what truly matters.”