Bellaire High Graduate Natalie Romero Injured In Charlottesville Car Attack

BELLAIRE, TX — Natalie Romero attends the University of Virginia in Charlottesville on scholarship, and she’s the first in her family to attend college. The 2016 Bellaire High graduate was a counter protester who was one of 20 people that got slammed by a car that accelerated into a crowd of people Saturday. She’s currently recovering in a Virginia hospital.

Romero's family moved to the United States from Colombia before she was born. Natalie, 20, sent a text to her mother, Erica Chaves, that she would be attending the rally to “stand up against racism” and protest against the white nationalists who oppose the removal of the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.

(For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Galleria-River Oaks Patch, and click here to find your local Texas Patch. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Like Bellaire Patch on Facebook and get our posts directly in your newsfeed; story continues below.

Romero told KHOU on Sunday that she indeed was hit by the car that drove into the crowd of people.

Romero, who was part of the Bellaire JROTC program, said she was unsure if she would be able to start classes on time this semester.

Her mother has started a Go Fund Me account to help pay medical expenses, and Houston ISD officials have shared the sentiment.

Top caption: Bellaire resident Natalie Romero receives first-aid after a car accident ran into a crowd of protesters in Charlottesville, VA on August 12, 2017. A picturesque Virginia city braced Saturday for a flood of white nationalist demonstrators as well as counter-protesters, declaring a local emergency as law enforcement attempted to quell early violent clashes.

Photo by PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images