Benefit dinner helps woman severely hurt in crash

Family, friends and members of the East Palestine community attended a spaghetti dinner, basket raffle and 50/50 raffle benefit Sunday, to help fund the recovery of a local woman who was badly injured in a crash.

35-year old Ashley Irizzary is unable to move her extremities or be fully independent. That's due to the injuries -- including 17 broken bones -- that she sustained from a crash in October. Irizzary had been traveling on State Route 165 in Unity Township, when a distracted semi-tractor trailer driver crossed into her lane. The tractor trailer hit Irizzary's Nissan Pathfinder head-on, leaving her with life-threatening injuries.

Months later, family and friends say Irizzary has found ways to stay connected with her children and loved ones, despite her limitations. They say the entire ordeal has been heart wrenching, but call her positivity and drive to recover almost "supernatural."

"She's probably the strongest person I've ever met in my life," said Christen Webb, the father of one of Irizzary's children. ".... It's really a fight or flight thing and she's kept her manners, kept her willpower intact. She's just one of the strongest people I've ever met in my life. Her fight, her will is just unmatched."

Webb said he hopes Irizzary, who he described as an outdoorsy person, will be able to once again have the mobility to ride dirt bikes, go hunting and fishing and enjoy everything she used to. He also said he hopes that includes finishing school, as Irizzary, an LPN, is months away from becoming an RN.

All proceeds from the event went directly to Ashley Irizarry.