By KYLE WIND
Freeman staff
kwind@freemanonline.com; twitter.com/KyleatFreeman

The 16-year-old Kingston girl who suffered a fractured skull and bruising of her brain in a Sunday collision between an ATV and a dirt bike was in stable condition on Tuesday, but her long-term prognosis was unclear, her father said.

Bill Smith said his daughter Kaylon remained sedated and immobilized at Westchester Medical Center but that whenever doctors slowed the sedation, she started to wake and move around.

Still, Smith said, doctors have prepared him for a variety of outcomes when she wakes up.

“Every brain is different,” Smith said. “She could snap out of it tomorrow, it could take a year, or she could never be normal again.”

Smith, a coach at the Kennett School of Gymnastics in Orange County, said his daughter is a Level 10 gymnast who started at age 2. Smith said she puts in 16 to 20 hours of gymnastics work per week, and he described her as the most gifted student he has had.

But “I don’t think she’ll be able to do it anymore,” he said Tuesday, choking back tears.

Kaylon, a member of Kingston High School’s Class of 2013, has aspired to be on a college gymnastics team while she works toward law school and wants to someday become a judge advocate general (JAG) officer with the U.S. Marine Corps, her father said.

KHS Principal Adrian Manuel said he has heard the 11th-grader is “a student of good character.”

“I know that there are many people here, including myself, that are hoping for the best recovery possible in this unfortunate situation,” said Manuel in an email on Tuesday.

The principal said the school has made counseling and other services available to Kaylon’s peers. Continued...

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“Any student who needs support and someone to speak with will have an available staff member to meet with them,” he said.

Police have said Kaylon was injured about 7 p.m. Sunday evening when a dirt bike ridden by 40-year-old Paul Harper collided with the four-wheel all-terrain vehicle the girl was riding in Rosendale.

Smith has said his daughter was not wearing a helmet when the crash occurred.

The incident occurred on a property to which three or four groups of people who rent houses had access, said state police Investigator Dina Pavloudakis. Harper was among the renters, as was a friend of Smith’s father, police have said.

Pavloudakis said there were many witnesses to the incident, and when asked if she expects charges to be filed or tickets to be issued,  she said only that the investigation is continuing.

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