'Hannah is coming home.' Young woman to return to Ireland three months after being knocked down in Sicily
Hannah Leonard was training for the Dublin marathon in Sicily last year when the terrible tragedy occurred
The family of a young Irish woman who suffered life-changing injuries after being struck by a car in Sicily have provided an update on her condition, sharing that their beloved daughter would be “coming home”.
Hannah Leonard, 22, was in the early stages of her final long-distance run in preparation for the Dublin Marathon when she was struck by a car as she ran across a pedestrian crossing on October 6, 2024.
Tragically, the collision reportedly sent Hannah, from Bray in Wicklow, flying approximately 15 feet across the road, where she landed on her head.
READ MORE: Bus driver rushed to hospital after crashing into pole in Dublin city centre
After being rushed to hospital, Hannah underwent three hours of emergency neurosurgery, including having a large piece of her skull removed to allow surgeons to access her brain.
A GoFundMe launched to help assist with Hannah’s medical costs has amassed over a quarter of a million euros during her hospital stay, with her loving father Kevin providing updates on his daughter's condition.
In an update, Kevin shared that Hannah would be coming home and that a date was confirmed, with people “working tirelessly in the background in Ireland” to help with her transfer to Beaumont Hospital.
“Hannah is coming home, something I’ve been waiting to say for just over three months,” Kevin wrote in a post on GoFundMe.
“In recent days, the nightly updates from the doctors on Hannah’s condition had now had a role reversal in that they looked to me for updates on when Hannah might be going home. It’s not that they are in a rush for her to leave, telling us that Hannah is welcome to a bed for as long as is needed.
“They still refer to her as being like their daughter or sister. We now have a date confirmed and there are many people working tirelessly in the background in Ireland to make everything happen which we are so grateful for.
“She will need an ambulance transfer in Catania, a medical team to travel with her, an air ambulance and then an ambulance transfer to her new medical team in Beaumont Hospital. We are soon to move from relying on the kindness of everyone in Catania to the kindness of those at home.”
Kevin added that his brother Ralph flew from Dublin to Sicily on New Year’s Eve along with his family, getting to see how far she had come in her recovery.
“Hannah got a special visitor on New Years Eve, my brother having flown in from Dublin with his family,” he shared.
“Ralph was here for the first week after Hannah’s accident, visiting with her for the first time in nearly two months. He got to see just how far she has come.
“The last time he had seen Hannah she was still bruised, swollen, black eyed, heavily bandaged and hooked up to all sorts of machines. This visit he remarked that she now looked like Hannah again.
“When frustration sets in with what sometimes seems like slow progress, he is the one to remind me of the early days and the amazing fight that Hannah has put up to get to where she is now.
“The visit went so well, the twin banter in full flow between Ralph and I, Hannah seeming like she wanted to join in. Her eye fixating on Ralph, her mouth moving as if she was joining in the conversation and plenty of little bits of movement from her body.
“In the last week Hannah still shows small improvements, she has somehow slept through a few of our visits but other visits she shows a little more of an alertness and we get some different responses when we touch her legs or stretch out her hands and arms.
“A healing journey, invisible to us, is going on inside her skull and time will show us the outcome of that journey. Her nurses continuing to remind us to have hope. Now it’s time for the next page to turn in Hannah’s story, that healing journey to be helped by working with a new team back home."
Kevin explained that he feels like they are “living someone else’s story” as often people see articles about collisions but never think it could happen to you.
“We feel like we are living someone else’s story, often you see articles in the news or adverts on TV like the ones from the RSA and think that it will never happen to you,” Hannah’s loving father continued.
“You feel sadness for what others are going through, so much news from home over the Christmas period was of accidents on the roads.
“Hannah is now one of those stories, due to someone else’s actions. All it takes is one second for a life to be irreversibly changed, causing a ripple effect out into the lives of so many others. That ripple effect continuing for many years to come.
“I hope to update you all next from what sounds like a freezing cold Dublin, I will not only miss the warmth of the Catania weather but also the warmth of the Catania people.”
The GoFundMe has raised an amazing €251,349 out of the €250,000 target. Donations can be made here.
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