Model and Lolo fashion editor Lauren Scruggs is recovering after a horrific plane propeller accident over the weekend and is now able to speak to her family. Scruggs, who also works in the wardrobe department of Gossip Girl, was terrible injured when she walked into a plane propeller after exiting a small plane in Dallas on Saturday night.
Jeff and Cheryl Scruggs, Lauren’s parents, said their daughter had been flying around looking at Christmas lights. Jeff Scruggs told Good Morning America tuesday that he believes Lauren went to thank the pilot after exiting the plane and walked into the propeller in the dark. Scruggs lost her hand and suffered severe head injuries, including damage to the left side of her face and her left eye.
“It sounds like this is a combination of a bad procedure by the pilot and the passenger not properly realizing her proximity,” aviation consultant John Nance said, according to ABC. “One of the things I’d have to look at is why in the world a pilot permitted a passenger to board or de-board while a propeller was turning.”
Lauren Scruggs underwent multiple surgeries over the weekend and is currently recovering in stable condition. A spokesperson for the family told ABCNews.com the extent of injury to her brain is still unknown.
“Yesterday was a good day, there was a lot of really positive progress,” Jeff Scruggs, Lauren’s father, said on Good Morning America. “They took out her tube in the afternoon. She didn’t speak right away… I said Lauren will you say ‘hi’ to Daddy, and she goes, ‘hi.’ Later she told one of Cheryl’s sisters that she loves her. It’s so encouraging to us. She’s really uncomfortable as you can imagine.”
“They’re telling us it’s going to be a long recovery,” Jeff Scruggs said. “Obviously she’s had a lot of trauma to her head, and she lost her left hand and her left eye is questionable. We’re praying she’ll regain her sight.”