Father: Butler girl seriously injured in crash still hospitalized, will miss benefit dinner
The Butler girl who suffered a broken spine and traumatic brain injury in an Aug. 3 crash remains hospitalized and won’t be able to attend her benefit dinner Oct. 3, according to her father.
Rowan Renee Sciullo, 5, is tentatively scheduled to be discharged from UPMC Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh on Oct. 15, almost two and a half months after a vehicle she was a passenger in crashed into a tree along Dick Road in Connoquenessing Township.
Rowan and her mother were airlifted to a hospital following the crash.
“She’s tough,” her father, Brett Sciullo, said of Rowan. “She’s not a complainer unless it actually hurts.”
Rowan also suffered tears in her colon and intestine among other injuries and required feeding tubes for nearly a month, according to a GoFundMe established to raise funds for her care. As of Thursday evening, Sept. 24, the GoFundMe has raised $43,368.
“Any father would be lucky to have (a daughter) like the little girl I have,” Sciullo said.
Sciullo said he hopes the Oct. 15 date will stick, but it may be pushed back due to a related health issue potentially more severe than anticipated.
The benefit is from noon to 7 p.m. at Butler American Legion Post 117, 413 S. Main St.
Sciullo said despite her condition, Rowan is “over the moon about the littlest things” and “has a lot of gratitude in her heart.”
He said Rowan is almost always cheerful and has been happy to see her friends when they visit, but she’s most excited to go home from the hospital.
Sciullo said he took about a month off from his job at Electric Empire Tattoos in Butler after the incident and has slowly returned to work. During his days off, he still spends 12 to 13 hours daily at the hospital.
When he’s not at the hospital or work, he’s spending time with his son. Sciullo added that support from the community and helping with meals has made the family’s circumstances easier to manage.
“It amazes me that so many people that I don’t know yet have lent eyes, ears, thoughts and prayers to the situation,” Sciullo said.
Rowan’s benefit will feature spaghetti and meatballs with a side salad and dinner roll for $10. There will also be a Chinese auction and 50/50 raffle. Additional Chinese auction basket donations are being sought and may be dropped off with the bartender.
