It was a mid-December Sunday afternoon and Alexandria was having a blast going visiting with 1-year-old Alyvia and Brett, family members recalled. When they saw the long line for the mall Santa, they happily switched to Plan B: Take Alivia to visit Brett’s grandmother in Dracut.

But moments after they crossed into Massachusetts, as the landmark iron bridge that spans the Merrimack River in Tyngsborough was coming into view, the sickening sounds of shattering glass, crunching metal, and hissing engine parts filled the air.

Now, nearly three weeks after the Dec. 14 crash involving Brett’s Nissan Rogue and a Subaru Impreza operated by a man from Westford, Mass., Alexandria Teixeira lies in Tufts Medical Center in Boston, visited and comforted by a parade of members of her large and extended family and plenty of friends. They all have a prayer that Alexandria recovers conquering the paralysis that resulted from the head and neck injuries she sustained in the crash.

Alyvia, thanks to her car seat, was uninjured, Teixeira said. Devincenzi sustained a head injury, got a few stitches, was treated at Lowell General Hospital, and rushed to Alex’s bedside as soon as he was released. 

One of the most ferociously hard-working people I have ever met. She will never give up her hope of walking again.  Her top priority, however, is to take care of her precious little girl, Alyvia.  Imagine just how hard that is.  Most of us will never know, but she moves forward complaining very little. 

-Ray Keefe