The 5-year-old girl who was left in critical condition after a car crash involving a former Kansas City Chiefs assistant coach could reportedly suffer “permanent brain damage,” a lawyer for the child’s family said.
“She’s awake, which is a huge development, [but] likely she has permanent brain damage that she will endure for the rest of her life, [and] she’s not walking. It’s a sad, sad, sad story,” family attorney Tom Porto said Tuesday on Good Morning America.
The girl, Ariel Young, was in a coma and hospitalized since Feb. 4, three days before Super Bowl LV, after then-Chiefs assistant coach Britt Reid allegedly slammed into two vehicles on the side of a highway entrance ramp near Arrowhead Stadium. Young and a second child were injured in the accident.
“This wasn’t a fender bender,” Porto said. “This was a serious, life-altering event.”
On Feb. 16, authorities announced Young was “breathing on her own” after several days in critical condition.
Reid, who reportedly told police he had “two or three drinks” and a prescription for Adderall when the crash occurred, was placed on leave by the team shortly after the incident.
Police are investigating whether Reid was impaired during the accident, and the family’s attorney threatened serious charges.
“We’re going to be advocating for the most serious charges and the most serious sentence that [Reid] could ever receive,” Porto said. “We don’t have the toxicology back. I don’t know what it is going to be. What I do know are the statements that he made to police that night. If you have two or three drinks, and then you get behind the wheel of a car, you are likely over the legal limit.”
Reid has reportedly not commented on the crash, but his father, Andy Reid, the team’s head coach, said his heart goes out to the crash victims.
“My heart goes out to all those who were involved in the accident, in particular the family with the little girl who’s fighting for her life,” the elder Reid said, according to ESPN. “I can’t comment on it any more than what I am here. So the questions you have, I’m going to have to turn those down, but just from a human standpoint, my heart bleeds for everybody involved in that.”
Britt Reid was sentenced to eight to 23 months in prison in 2007 after pleading guilty to flashing a gun at a motorist and subsequently pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of a controlled substance in 2008.
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A GoFundMe established for the young girl and her family has raised more than $500,000.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Popham Law Firm, where Porto practices, but did not immediately receive a response.
