Family, schools rally around student

Krystal Allen missed her senior prom at Clovis High School after she was hit by a car. But school officials and her family are working hard to make sure she doesn’t miss her graduation.

“She’s still in a lot of pain,” said the girl’s mother, Kay Allen. “She’s doing better, and she could remember words (doctors) told her, so they thought she would be doing OK.”

According to Clovis police reports, Krystal Allen was struck by a Ford Taurus while walking across Thornton Street after school on May 2 — the Friday night before prom.

She spent prom night in the intensive care unit of Covenant Hospital in Lubbock, receiving treatment for injuries that included a skull fracture, broken left lower leg, and injured eardrum.

“She was devastated. She had a date with a college guy, had her nails done, and had a hair appointment,” Kay Allen said. “She stayed in the intensive care unit until (Monday), when she got out.”

For now, the family’s priority is to help Allen graduate from Clovis High School.

“The school has called me and said they would do all they could to help her graduate,” Kay Allen said. “We’ve got to find out what we need to do to get her back in school. They have her on crutches so we have to be really careful. We’re just going to have to find out what we have to do.”

Clovis Superintendent Neil Nuttall said that in Krystal’s case, graduation won’t be a problem.

“She’s such a strong student that even if she didn’t take her final exams, she would still pass all her courses,” Nuttall said. “She will be awarded her diploma, and then she can take her finals for her final grades in each class.”

Those finals may be delayed for a while. Kay Allen said her daughter’s first priorities now have to be medical.

“(Covenant Hospital) allowed us to bring her home so she must be doing a lot better. She does have to go into physical therapy,” Kay Allen said.

Allen said the community has been supportive of her daughter.

“Her choir teacher came over to see her and brought her a plant, and a card signed by all the choir members,” she said. “A friend who happened to be there when the accident happened went all the way to Lubbock three times to see her.”

While in Lubbock, the Allen family stayed at the Ronald McDonald House for families of injured children, which Allen said was supportive.

“The Ronald McDonald house is so super,” she said. “They have people who volunteer from Lubbock to bring meals for the people there almost every day.

“That is one of the best things for people with children who are hurt that I’ve ever seen.”

According to the Clovis Police Department, no citations had been issued in connection with the accident as of Wednesday. The report indicated that pedestrian error contributed to the incident.