Reid Hall maintenance workers brought balloons, a card and two stuffed tigers to Michelle Molden-Sevison.
The tigers were the first items her daughter, UF psychology alumna Gabriella Molden, held when she was strong enough to do so.
On June 15, Molden, 22, was riding her scooter without a helmet to work at UF Health Shands Hospital. She suffered a traumatic brain injury when she was hit by a turning vehicle at the intersection of Museum Road and Southwest 13th Street.
But now, four weeks after her accident, Gabby is able to FaceTime her sorority sisters and hug her family.
Molden-Sevison saw her daughter make small, day-by-day gains from the beginning.
“She has surprised the doctors,” she said. “She hasn’t surprised me.”
The tigers are one of the tokens that reminds Molden-Sevison of the “kindness of strangers,” she said.
“Every time I see her grab that little tiger, you know, I think of that moment when they knocked on the door with those for her,” Molden-Sevison said.
First, Gabby squeezed the tigers. Then, she mouthed “I love you.”
And now, she laughs at inside jokes with UF alumna Kayla Hale, her roommate from sophomore to senior year.
“She’s like a living miracle,” said Hale, who was one of Gabby’s UF Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority sisters.
• • •
Gabby’s mom said her daughter loves life. She describes her as beautiful, vibrant, lively, determined, faithful.
“She’s the sparkle in my eye,” Molden-Sevison said.
She has spent the past four weeks at her daughter’s side, sleeping in Reid Hall for a couple of those weeks.
Steele Sevison, Gabby’s 10-year-old brother, told his mom she had perfect attendance.
Steele has stayed with his sister and mom almost the entire time Gabby has been in the hospital. His other siblings, 24-year-old Garris Molden and 14-year-old Seaira Sevison, visited their sister, too.
The only photo Molden-Sevison said she felt compelled to take in the first days following the accident was when Gabby’s siblings surrounded her.
Molden-Sevison said her daughter had dreams of being a physician assistant. Gabby also planned on using her medical experience to help those on a mission trip to Panama this summer.
Gabby’s little sister, Seaira, looks up to her as a role model, and she is following in her footsteps,
Seaira plays the flute, just like her sister. She plans to get involved in Student Government when she starts high school this fall, just like her sister.
She even wears her sister’s old clothes.
“She has the nicest hand-me-downs ever,” Seaira said.
• • •
The door to Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority house stood open Saturday night, welcoming guests to Pray for Gabby.
Girls in sundresses and boys in button-ups moseyed in, introducing friends of friends to one another and grabbing one another in hugs.
More than 150 of Gabby’s sorority sisters, friends and loved ones filed into the chapter room.
An electronic tea-light candle sat on every seat.
The event celebrated Gabby’s recovery, said Samantha Coughlin, the Kappa Kappa Gamma president.
“She’s doing so well,” said Coughlin, who helped plan the service. “It’s inspiring.”
As attendees quieted down, bells sounded the start of the service.
Then voices joined the bells.
“Hallelujah,” the people sang.
Afterward, songs of praise and scripture readings filled the room, where the Rev. Harry Holloman called attendees to voice spoken prayers. He told them to use “many words but one voice.”
While praying and praising, attendees passed around a silver pendant, thinking positive thoughts as they did so.
The circular pendant was decorated with a butterfly that symbolizes new life. The butterfly perched on a branch that was bent, but not broken, which the Rev. Rachel DeLaune said represents Gabby’s struggle.
The service also included Bible passages about strength, specifically those from the book of Isaiah.
Pictures of Gabby played on a TV at the front of the room, and Holloman explained why he chose one of Gabby’s arms outstretched as she was skydiving.
In the photo, Holloman said Gabby is the closest one could come to being so full of strength that he or she soars like an eagle, citing Isaiah 40:31.
“Because we hurt, we can find strength,” Holloman said.
At the end of the service, attendees were asked to stand up, turn on their candles and hold them high.
• • •
Molden-Sevison said she felt the prayers for her daughter.
“The power of prayer is so beautiful and so strong,” she said.
Molden-Sevison said the outpouring of love and prayers from friends and strangers alike are meaningful to her.
One of those who came to the event to show support for Gabby was Sgt. Nick Konopka from the University Police Department, who responded to the accident.
He said it makes him sick to see a UF student or graduate hurt because he cares about them like they are his own children.
“It’s still somebody’s baby somewhere,” said Konopka, who has been working for UPD for 27 years.
• • •
When Molden-Sevison crosses the intersection where her daughter was hit, she said she holds her breath.
But when she heads north on Southwest 13th Street, she said she sees the support for Gabby on the outside of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity houses. The sorority sisters and fraternity brothers hung banners with words of encouragement outside.
When she isn’t at her daughter’s side at the hospital, Molden-Sevison said she likes to drive by, just to look at them.
She said she hopes sharing her daughter’s story and encouraging people to use helmets will spare other families the pain she has endured.
“You’ve worked so hard getting where you’re at,” Molden-Sevison said. “Don’t let an instant take it away from you.”
[A version of this story ran on page 1 on 7/14/15]
Gabriella Molden poses for a photo. Molden suffered a traumatic brain injury in June after she was hit by a vehicle while she was riding her scooter with no helmet. Four weeks later, Molden is able to hug her family.
