High schooler loses sight in one eye in car crash; mom credits app with saving her life

FAIRLAWN, Ohio (WOIO/Gray News) - A high school senior lost sight in one eye after a car crash, but her mother said she is thankful for a family tracking app that she says helped save her daughter’s life.

Mother Kelly Dean was drinking coffee on Sept. 20, a morning that started like any other, when an alert on her phone changed everything. A tracking app told her that her 18-year-old daughter, Kylee Dean, had been in a car crash, WOIO reports.

“An alarm went off that a crash was detected with her car, and it sent me a map and said it called 911,” Kelly Dean said.

Kylee Dean, a newly licensed high schooler, was excited about her senior homecoming that morning. As she was stopped at an intersection in Fairlawn, Ohio, the sun was so bright she says she couldn’t see if the light had changed. The 18-year-old stepped on the gas and ran into the back of the car in front of her.

“I tried to get out of the car because I was going to talk to the people I hit, but then, I realized that I was feeling dizzy and I could see the blood all over me,” Kylee Dean said.

She was rushed to the hospital, where she had to get surgery on her right eye. Her mother says her iris and lens were badly damaged.

“I can’t see at all out of this eye. It’s complete blackness. It’s been really hard to adjust to that,” Kylee Dean said.

The 18-year-old hopes that once her eye heals, she’ll be able to get a new iris and lens, but until then, she’s just thankful things weren’t worse.

“I just really want to look on the positive side, do what I can do and be happy that I can do what I can do,” she said.

Meanwhile, Kelly Dean says she suggests every family has a tracking app, especially for those whose kids are new behind the wheel. She says her app made the difference in getting her daughter the help she needed after the crash.

“I don’t even know if I would have found out right away. I don’t know how I would have found out,” Kelly Dean said.

Kylee Dean said she agrees with her mother.

“Maybe it’s annoying your parents are tracking you every moment, but in that situation, it can save your life,” she said.

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