Recent IU graduate, former Theta in coma a week after crash

A recent IU graduate is in a coma after losing control of her vehicle midmorning July 30.

Whitney King, 22, was rushed to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis at about 10:30 a.m. July 30 after sliding off Fairfax Road south of Bloomington, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office. The heavy rain at the time made the notoriously dangerous road especially hazardous.

King, a 2009 graduate and Noblesville, Ind., native, was driving to her summer waitressing job at Eagle Pointe Golf Resort near Monroe Reservoir when her vehicle drifted left of the center line. She overcorrected, and her vehicle struck a telephone pole on the driver’s side, said her father, Mike King, in a phone interview.

Whitney King has improved from a scale 3 coma immediately after the accident to a scale 8 coma as of Wednesday afternoon.

The Glasgow coma scale defines 0 as the deepest coma and 15 as fully awake and is based on eye opening, motor response and verbal response. In the week since her accident, King has opened her eyes for up to 20 minutes and responded to pain by moving her arms.

An MRI brain scan Tuesday evening indicated no significant damage to King’s brainstem but some small tearing in her brain’s outermost level. The tearing affects the brain’s communication with the rest of the body and will require rehabilitation, according to the King family’s online journal.

King’s other serious injuries include a broken pelvis, ruptured bladder and severe cuts and bruising.

King graduated in May with a degree in broadcast journalism. She was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority and the IU Essence hip-hop dance club. She worked at the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation building and led a cardio kickboxing group workout session there.

Her older brother, Tyler King, graduated from IU in 2008 and recently completed his first year at the IU School of Medicine.

Whitney King’s family is keeping friends and family up-to-date on her medical condition through CaringBridge, a nonprofit Web service provided by Methodist Hospital. For the latest developments in her recovery, Mike King urged anyone interested to read Whitney’s CaringBridge journal at www.caringbridge.org/visit/whitneyking.