She’s a ‘miracle’: hopeful update on Ward Melville grad’s fight to save leg

Melaina Gargano, 22, is recovering at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center in Philadelphia after community donations helped make her transfer from Arizona possible

Victoria Gargano took to Facebook this week with a smile-filled update on her daughter Melaina — the Ward Melville High School grad and Arizona State University senior recovering from catastrophic leg injuries she suffered in a Feb. 25 crash in Arizona involving a suspected drunk driver.

The relieved mother from South Setauket posted a reel showing her 22-year-old daughter smiling and holding a thumps-up sign from a hospital bed at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. Victoria Gargano said her daughter had come through her fifth surgery and has settled into a larger room where family and friends can visit.

Melaina Gargano was transferred to the Philadelphia hospital; her medical transport from Arizona was made possible, in part, by a community fundraising campaign that has raised more than $110,000.

“Her spirits are lifted, and she’s incredibly grateful for all of your prayers and generous support,” Victoria Gargano wrote. “Truly, there are no words to express how thankful we are as a family. We see Melaina as a miracle, and we thank God every day for sparing her life.”

The crash in Arizona left Melaina with devastating injuries to her right leg. The family reported last week that three inches of her tibia are missing, her fibula is fractured, and most of the skin and muscle on her lower leg and foot are severely damaged.

She additionally was diagnosed with drop foot, and one of her three major leg veins stopped functioning.

The obstacle was money. The family’s insurance company had initially declined to cover the cost of medical air transport and the specialized surgery, and projected medical costs over the next two years are expected to exceed $350,000.

The community answered swiftly. A GoFundMe launched by Melaina Gargano’s aunt, Kimberly Scarola of Stony Brook, raised $74,000 in a single day, helping make the transfer and surgery possible.

The college student had already endured four surgeries before arriving in Philadelphia.

On the GoFundMe page she created, Scarola describes her niece as someone with “a kind and loving soul, a playful spirit, and a joy for life that lights up every room she enters.” It’s a description that appeared very much alive in the reel Victoria Gargano shared.

The road ahead remains long. The family expects more than a dozen additional surgeries.