Benefit dinner to help tragic accident

SOUTH PARIS — Locals are seeking help to bring a woman who suffered an aneurysm back to the area, so that she can be cared for by family.

Elyssa Johnson, 32, grew up in Hartford, went to high school in Buckfield, and worked for years at New England Public Warehouse in South Paris before moving to Rockmart, Georgia in 2006 with her two children.

On December 15th, 2010, just before Christmas, Johnson suffered a tragic brain aneurysm that left her in a coma for 28 days and still cannot walk. She is currently in rehabilitation learning how to walk again, at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. She will be released on April 22, at which point her family hopes to bring her home.

"It's been a hardship for everybody involved," says her mother Patricia Harris. "She's not walking yet, but she's come a long way."

Kimball has organized a benefit dance at the American Legion Hall on Church Street in South Paris between 4:00 and 8:00 p.m. Admission will cost $7.00 a person and the proceeds will contribute to flying Johnson and her two children back to Maine.

"She's down there with just her kids and her boyfriend," said Kimball. "Her bills have piled up because her boyfriend had to be in the hospital with her."

"There's been zero money since December 15," says Harris. "Family and friends have helped out financially, but it's been a hardship on everybody involved."

Johnson will require extended care after being released, as she will be in a wheelchair and has lost a great deal of her memory following the aneurysm.

"She's lost some short term memory," says Harris. "It comes in bits and pieces. The doctors say it might be a year and a half, some say two years, before she gets it all back."

There will be a buffet dinner, live music by the Road Kings Band, and a 50/50 raffle at the dance. Kimball will be setting up a trust fund with a local bank for those who want to contribute but cannot attend.

For more information, contact Kimball at 890-6570.