By Katy Macek From Chippewa Herald

It was intended as a vacation for Abby Runge and her family during the Christmas break.

On Wednesday, Dec. 28, on Grand Cayman Island in the Caribbean, Runge and her family were traveling to go snorkeling with sea turtles.

Time was about to stand still for Abby Runge, captain of the Chippewa Falls Senior High School cross country team and lead manager of the school’s wrestling team.

“I don’t remember anything from like an hour before the car crash until (Tuesday) Jan. 10. I think it’s a blessing for sure; I don’t remember anything hurting. For the time I can remember, nothing hurt. I had jaw reconstruction surgery,” she said.

“I was sitting in the middle, in the back seat. It only had a lap belt. We were hit almost head on, so I hit my head on the center console. But because my jaw broke, it saved my brain from a lot of the impact so I didn’t have a very bad concussion, which is pretty lucky,”

She’s come a long way since, armed with a positive attitude about life and comforted by being able to lean on good friends and family for support.

So this Wednesday, at 7:30 p.m. in the gymnasium of Chi-Hi, Abby Runge will be part of the graduating class of 2017.

“Most people are just so lucky constantly, and I think that’s a big thing. Don’t take yourself seriously. And when bad things happen, try to flip it around so it’s not so bad,” said Runge, who will be attending the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse this fall, studying chemistry and business.

Her goal is to work for NASA.

“I have no idea why, but ever since I was really little I wanted to be an astronaut. Then it changed for a little bit. I wanted to be a teacher. But now I’m back to astronaut.”

That would have been an nearly impossible goal to think of her achieving on Dec. 28.

The crash
Abby was in the crash along with her parents, Sheri and Tim Runge, brother Jacob (who just finished his sophomore year in college) and sister Mikayla (a high school sophomore).

“My dad and sister were pretty much OK, (my) brother had a pretty bad concussion, and my mom broke two vertebrae in her neck,” Abby Runge said.

They received care on Grand Cayman until Dec. 30, when they were medivaced to Miami, Florida.

Abby’s jaw was broken in two places. She had surgery Jan. 2. “I don’t remember any of that,” she said.

She had two fractures of her pelvis, facial fractures and a fracture around her right eye.

The recovery
Getting well enough to leave the hospital was one thing. Going back to school was another challenge.

“It was not so much that I didn’t want to be at school, but I felt like I couldn’t. I was tired all of the time, and when I first came back, I was on crutches,” she said.

And, for a time, her jaw was wired shut.

“It was hard to be around people who weren’t my family. It felt like everybody thought they had to be walking on eggshells around me, and I didn’t want that.”

For more on this story go to: http://chippewa.com/news/local/positive-attitude-lets-abby-runge-overcome-severe-vehicle-crash/article_c9a430da-8dfd-5ac0-89c6-18092ceeae09.html