HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — A 13-year-old Wimauma girl has received a new medical device to help her walk again after suffering serious injuries in a car crash last June.
Jasmin Cervantes-Garcia was the sole survivor after the crash killed her parents and grandparents in June of 2022. They were visiting family when a charter bus hit her family's pick-up truck head-on in Mexico.
On Friday, The Freedom to Walk Foundation presented Jasmin with a medical device called a "Bioness." She has a medical condition called foot drop.
"By purchasing a device called a Bioness, it’s a small electronic device that fits around the bottom of your knee and stimulates the nerves to give you that ability to use your foot again. There’s a syndrome called foot drop where your nerves won’t let your foot raise properly to walk and this device stimulates those nerves to make that proper motion possible," said Lisa Jordan, a board member with the Freedom to Walk Foundation.
Donations from the community helped pay for the $5,500 device. On Friday, dozens gathered to watch Jasmin receive the device. The group also played Designer Bag Jukebox Bingo for a chance to win a designer bag. The event raises money for the Freedom to Walk Foundation.
"It’s unlike your traditional bingo, where they don’t call out numbers. They play snippets of songs and give you the title and you find the song on your card," said Jordan.
ABC Action News has been covering Jasmin's progress since the beginning. Last June, she was brought by air ambulance from Mexico to Tampa. She was hospitalized before moving to a rehabilitation center in Jacksonville.
"It was an everyday thing, three to four, sometimes five hours a day of just constant rehab training, walking, moving, learning how to talk, learning how to hold a pencil, learning how to communicate with words, simple words," said Cindy Garcia, Jasmin's aunt.
The community has also raised money for Jasmin's recovery through a GoFundMe page. Her family said they are so grateful for all of the love and support.
Jasmin is back home in Wimauma and attends an outpatient rehabilitation center at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital.
"She’s here for a reason. I’ve always said that since day one; she’s here for a reason," said Garcia.
"It’s been a journey and she’s a fighter; she made it and she’s here," she added.
To learn more about the Freedom to Walk Foundation, click here.
To assist with donations, click here.
