Kiara Bowling is relearning to walk and talk after being critically injured on a sidewalk in Oakland, Calif.
Credit: gofundme
NEED TO KNOW
- Kiara Bowling, 31, was hit by a car driven by two young brothers who took their parents’ car keys
- The California State University student suffered a severe brain injury and is relearning basic skills like coloring
- The parents of the two boys are cooperating with an investigation, per reports
A California woman is relearning to walk and talk after she was struck and nearly killed by a car driven by two children.
“We didn’t even know that she would make it one month,” Kiara Bowling’s aunt, Karon Markham, told ABC 7 News about her niece’s recovery from a traumatic brain injury. “She’s up walking. She’s able to speak. She’s learning. She’s moving forward.”
“What a blessing,” she said of her niece, whom she called a “walking miracle.”
The California State University East Bay student, 31, had just returned to Oakland after a summer program at Yale, and was planning to apply to Harvard Law. She was walking her friend’s dog, Grizzly, on Aug. 6 when she was struck by a Toyota sedan driven by two brothers, aged 4 and 7.
Credit: Gofundme
The boys, who were also hospitalized with injuries, took their parents’ car keys while the adults were sleeping, the parents previously told ABC.
“It has turned really the family’s life upside down,” Markham said. “She doesn’t say much about the hospital itself. She knows she was injured. And I know it’s hard on her because she’s used to living her best life.”
Bowling, who had recently been selected as Miss California Regency International 2026, is now “learning to put a puzzle together. She’s learning to color,” Markham said.
Bowling suffered a diffuse axonal brain injury, according to a GoFundMe established to support her in her recovery. The injury occurs when connective nerve fibers in the brain tear from the brain shaking or moving inside the skull, per Johns Hopkins Medicine. Doctors told ABC7 that it may take up to two years for Bowling to recover.
Credit: gofundme
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Markham shared that her niece was able to reunite with Grizzly — who was also injured — in the hospital. “The day Grizzly walked in, and she was lying in bed and she said, ‘Hi, boy,’ “ Markham said. “He’s definitely on the mend to recover as well.”
The outlet reports that the boys’ parents are cooperating with an investigation into the accident.
“She has a long recovery. And she’s getting there. Small steps,” Markham said. “And with the prayers from the world and God watching over her, she’ll get there.”
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