NEW BEDFORD — If you were to catch a glimpse into the New Bedford home of April Katsules, for a moment, you might forget what time of year it is. But for the family of 7-year-old Lilliana Laidler, the Christmas tree that has stood lit since last December serves as both a painful reminder of when they almost lost the first-grader, and also a beacon of hope that she may finally be able to return home soon — with some help from the community.

"I promised her that this tree would not come down or be unlit until she comes home," said Katsules, grandmother of Lilliana.

On Dec. 10, Lilliana — or Lilly, for short — was with her mother, Diamond, and younger brother Jeremiah, 6, when the vehicle they were in crashed in New Bedford's West End. While all three suffered serious to critical injuries, Lilliana's — which included a fractured skull, clavicle, collapsed lungs, and a broken neck in three places — would prove to have the longest lasting repercussions, family members said.

"Initially, the only one who was conscious was the 6-year-old, Lilliana's little brother, Jeremiah," said cousin Heather Cruz of the accident. "He was the one who gave the EMTs his sister's and mom's information."

According to family members, Lilliana and Diamond were pronounced dead at the scene before being revived; and since then, Diamond and Jeremiah — whose injuries included a skull fracture, broken clavicle and more — have made relatively full recoveries. Lilliana hasn't been so lucky.

"We were told they weren't even sure she (Lilliana) was going to make the night," said Katsules' other daughter, Lilliana's aunt, Ruby Cubero.

Cubero says she was with Katsules when she got the call from St. Luke's staff the night of the accident. 

"My mom and I were just getting back home from getting our hair done, just sitting around, making jokes or whatever, and we realized nobody had heard from Diamond," Cubero said. "A little while later, my mom's phone started ringing. It was the hospital. They said they'd been in an accident, and to get there safe, but get there quick."

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"When the EMTs got there — I try not to think about it or visualize it — but they said she (Lilliana) was on the floor non-responsive, tangled in her seatbelt," Katsules recalled. "This has been the hardest thing I've ever had to deal with in my life."

Since that night, the family says keeping up with Lilliana's condition has been a rollercoaster ride, from her initial MedFlight from St. Luke's Hospital to Hasbro Children's in Providence; then to Mass General and Franciscan Children's pediatric rehabilitation in Boston — the latter two being where Lilliana has spent most of her time since the accident.

"Lilliana has gone through probably over a dozen surgeries," Cruz said, listing off a number of procedures, including the placement of metal rods in her neck, to having a shunt installed to disperse the fluid that started building up around her brain. "The fluid build-up around her brain causes major pain and discomfort, and throughout time it can actually cause the brain to start to shut down in other places. So, with her having severed her brain stem, we obviously don't want any more brain damage to happen."

Currently, family members say they're thankful for the fact that Lilliana — a Hayden-McFadden Elementary School student noted for her vibrant personality and love of drawing and dancing — is alive and aware of their presence during regular visits to see her in Boston.

"She's completely coherent; she's in there — it's just a matter of her brain stem sending signals to the rest of the body to have her communicate," Cruz said. "So when you ask a question, she will respond to you answering yes or no. We taught her 'yes' is a wink and 'no' is a scowl face. ... Her new thing is sticking her tongue out and making silly faces with you."

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"When she's having a good day, they'll tell you she's comical," Katsules said. "She can't get up and dance, so — you know these kids nowadays — all the young nurses would go in like 'come on Lilly, we're going to listen to music and shake our booty!' and her whole face lights up.

"When we visit I'll do my really silly things and she'll still open up her mouth like she's trying to crack up laughing, so she definitely still has her amazing personality much more than I would have ever thought, considering what she is going through."

"I sleep over and I'll do her pedicures, manicures — we'll have our girls' days," Cubero said. "We've tried to sing songs to her and if it's a song she likes, she'll try to lip-sync it with me. But if she's having a bad day, no, we're not going to get any smiles out of her. She's probably going to be very sleepy throughout the day and just not herself."

But the family is also faced with some hard facts.

"Unless they come out with some sort of miracle surgery in her lifetime, Lilliana will be paralyzed from the shoulders down for the rest of her life," Cruz said.

Despite that outlook, there's still plenty to be thankful for, as well as hope that medical advancements may benefit Lilliana, the family says.

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"Within the next six months, she is going to have to go back to Mass General because they have this new medical device out — it's only been out a couple of years — called a diaphragmic pacer," Katsules said, noting her granddaughter would be the youngest patient to receive the technology to date. "It works like a pacemaker works for your heart, but this would work for her lungs. 

"Her lungs aren't too damaged, but where she severed her spinal cord, the nerves that send the messages to your lungs to inhale and exhale don't work."

Katsules said if the installation is successful, the chances of her granddaughter being able to live with less dependence on a tracheostomy tube and/or speaking valve should be increased.

Currently, medical care providers say Lilliana will likely be able to return home in July, according to family members. However, there's one financial hurdle to clear before that's possible — the family must find a way to fund a $10,000, ADA-compliant handicap ramp. With less than a month to tackle that obstacle before the time comes, little brother Jeremiah — who was a Kindergartener at Hayden-McFadden Elementary School at the time of the accident — stepped up with an idea: "Lilly's Lemonade" stand.

"The first time we did it, it was Jeremiah's idea," Cruz said of the first try only weeks ago. "So we did it at his grandmother's (Katsules') house on Mt. Pleasant Street that time and we figured we'd spread the word and try to do it again."

Then, by way of some networking efforts, Lilly's Lemonade followed up its debut with a roughly week-long run out in front of Work Out World on Kings Highway, and then another go this past Saturday at a family residence on Sawyer Street, as well as a fundraiser on Tuesday at Barrett's Ale House in Fall River during which any patron who mentioned Lilliana was to have the proceeds from their meal/drinks donated to the cause.

"It was a bit overwhelming to see how much the community actually supported Lilliana," Cubero said. "How could you not be touched after hearing about a 7-year-old, innocent little girl whose life just changed in the blink of an eye?"

Currently, family members note that they are over halfway there to funding the remaining $5,000 needed for the total $10,000 handicap ramp, assuming a $5,000 grant thought to be headed their way from Knights of Columbus is finalized. But there's a possibility fundraising efforts will continue beyond that expense, as there's still another component that will be needed to give Lilliana as much normalcy as possible once home: a van able to accommodate her heavy, motorized wheelchair and all the equipment she'll need to bring with her when spending time out of the house.

"The wheelchair she has is not foldable so she'll have to have a handicap-accessible vehicle," Katsules said. "I want to be able to take her to the zoo, out to the beach — things like that."

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As it is, the past seven months have already been challenging in terms of transportation costs, Cruz says. "Part of our family's struggle is making sure we have gas money to get back and forth to Boston," she said, noting Lilliana's grandfather has been the primary shuttler of family members to and from visits. "I usually help by watching Jeremiah, and I have four kids of my own, so it's not easy but we all do our best."

While Lilliana has already surpassed medical expectations, the family says they are hopeful that once back home, the rate of her recovery will see an even further boost.

"They say that children, especially, progress the most when in their own home setting where they're comfortable, so we hope that's the case," Cruz said. "She's a fighter — she's beaten so many odds already. They told us at the beginning that she would probably never open her eyes again and she'd be in a vegetative state for the rest of her life."

"We're just grateful she's still here," Cubero said. "Yes, it's an unfortunate situation we're in, but we're just trying to make the best of it and be grateful that she beat all the doctors' odds so far, so who knows what could happen in a few months."

Donations to the #LillianaStrong campaign can be made via CashApp: $LillianaStrong1; or Venmo: @LillianaStrong.

To contact Standard-Times staff reporter Matthew Ferreira, email mferreira@gannett.com.