Community Rallies Around Lily Putnam After Serious Injury

OAK CREEK, WI -- In a little more than a week, members of the community have come together to nearly fully fund a specialized van for the family of Lily Putnam, the Oak Creek High School student who was seriously injured in a car accident outside the school in Sept. 2018.

According to a Fox 6-TV report this week, father Jesse Putnam said his daughter spent months in the hospital and physical therapy, and is now breathing on her own and is alert at all times.

"As a parent, you always want your child to look up to you. You want to be a good example for them. The roles are reversed. She's the example for us," Putnam said in the report.

How to Help
Contributions can be made to Lily's Van

Last week, the family said they needed funds to acquire a specialized van that could be outfitted to transport Lily wherever she needed to go. Members of the community have stepped up in a big way just days after the family asked for help.

"We currently transport Lily in our vehicles but this requires us to transfer her from her wheelchair to the seat in the car. This does cause some stress for Lily. We want to get a van that we can wheel her in and out of for all transports," Jesse Putnam wrote in a Go Fund Me campaign to help her. "We are not asking for all of it but any little bit helps. I understand this is a lot to ask for and we are very thankful for anything you can do," he wrote. The van costs an estimated $30,000 the family says.

"We Are In Pain Today"

According to reports in Sep. 2018, Lily was one of two students who were in the area of Puetz Road and South Mayhew Drive at about 7:10 a.m. when the driver of a vehicle struck them. The intersection is directly south from the high school's parking lot.

"Words fail us at times like these, please join us in filling our hearts--with hope, or prayer, or quiet reflection--for these students on this a most difficult and painful day," Assistant Superintendent of Schools Dan Unertl said after the accident.