Teenage horse rider clinging to life after crash near Turlock. Family plans vigil
Story Update » Animal-loving Turlock teen dies from injuries suffered when a truck hit her, her horse
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Regina Vigil-Gardner cannot recognize her animal-loving daughter as she lies in Doctors Medical Center, but she said she knows the 19-year-old is fighting for her life after a distracted driver hit her near Turlock.
Summer suffered a brain injury from the crash and on Friday, as she battled a fever and high blood pressure, her mother said the family is considering transferring her to another hospital.
“Right now her chances are life-threatening and we want to make sure we give her the fighting chance, even if I have to keep her on a respirator for I don’t care how long it is,” Vigil-Gardner said. “I’m going to try to fight for my daughter. Even if I have to take her home and she’s not the same Summer, I will care for her.”
Summer attended Pitman High School and dreamed for a horse since she was a child, Vigil-Gardner said. She gave Summer the horse she was riding at the time of the crash, Riggs, for her 18th birthday. The two were inseparable, Vigil-Gardner said, and she rode or walked Riggs on a route near their home for the past year every day.
The teenager was riding Riggs on their regular route when the driver of a Chevrolet Silverado hit them Wednesday morning, Vigil-Gardner said. Riggs died at the scene.
Just an hour before the crash, Vigil-Gardner said she pulled up next to the best friends and told her daughter to get home safely and move her goat to another pen. While they talked, Riggs stuck his face in the car to say hello, she said.
Her daughter stands up for people and does not sugar-coat things when she sees someone doing something she thinks is wrong, Vigil-Gardner said. She gives food to homeless people and really connects with animals. She recently begged to adopt a three-legged pig, telling her mother the pig would get killed otherwise.
“She always wants to do stuff for other people all the time,” Vigil-Gardner said. “If she sees a stray dog, she jumps out of the car, gets it and we make sure if it has tags we take it to the dog pound, get it scanned and see what we have to do to find its owners.”
Summer wants to work in a veterinary hospital in the future, Vigil-Gardner said. She plans to go into an adult program because she didn’t finish high school during the pandemic.
The teenager’s two older brothers and younger sister scheduled a prayer for 7 p.m. Friday at Doctors Medical Center. Summer felt like she did not have a lot of friends, and Vigil-Gardner said all the prayers for her are appreciated.
For medical and legal fees, the family is seeking donations on GoFundMe. The family is looking into suing the driver who hit her, she added. The driver told investigators he was reaching down for a bottle of water and didn’t see Summer until the last minute, authorities previously told The Bee.
“This could have been prevented,” Vigil-Gardner said. “This is something that should’ve never happened to anybody, whatever the circumstances. This is negligence.”
This story was originally published August 13, 2021 at 1:59 PM.
