Lengthy Recovery Ahead For Mom Following Toms River Crash

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Toms River woman faces a lengthy recovery after a car crash Monday morning on Oak Ridge Parkway, her family says.

Kathleen Brown, 55, has been hospitalized since the crash, her daughter, Kissina Marie Giovanniello said in an email to Patch.

Brown was driving north on Oak Ridge Parkway near Winding River Ice Arena shortly before 10 a.m. when her 2013 Buick Regal ran off the road and hit several street signs, a traffic signal support and utility pole before overturning, Toms River police said. The crash closed Oak Ridge Parkway for a few hours, police said.

Giovanniello said her mother suffered a broken pelvis and knee and multiple facial and skull fractures that will require multiple reconstructive surgeries.

"This will take years to recover from," Giovanniello said in a GoFundMe campaign she created looking for help in offsetting the expenses. "The overwhelming concern of the medical bills, her physical therapy, doctors visits and being able to provide for our home is a great concern."

"Just asking for neighborly strength and efforts, to help keep this small family alive," she said on the GoFundMe.

In an email to Patch, Giovanniello said they don't have much family to turn to for help.

"I am her only surviving daughter after we lost my sister to cancer back in 2015," she said. "We don't have any close family, so unfortunately I am pretty alone in this with my 4-year-old son."

Anyone who wishes to donate to the GoFundMe can do so here.