From New Brunswick to Barnegat friends, family and the Rutgers community continue to rally around 19-year-old Skye Thompson and her recovery from a stroke.

Skye, her mom Laura, sister Summer and two other friends were headed to the Maroon 5 Atlantic City beach concert on Aug. 5 when, Skye "suddenly became unconscious in the back seat and suffered a stroke and brain hemorrhage," Laura tells New Jersey 101.5.  "And I'm driving the mini-van stuck in traffic and hearing them say scary stuff like 'she's turning blue.'"

SKye Thompson (L) and her mother Laura
SKye Thompson (L) and her mother Laura (Laura Thompson)
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"It was a normal day we had been waiting for all summer," recalls Laura, a single mom to three daughters. "We stopped at Wawa for hash browns and then headed for the Parkway."

Skye was taken to a hospital in Atlantic City where she was diagnosed with cavernoma, defined by John Hopikins Medicine as "an abnormal cluster of capillaries and venules that periodically bleed and give rise to a "popcorn-like" lesion in the brain or spinal cord." It is very rare to strike someone as young as Skye. "If she has brain surgery the lesion often grows back," explains Laura, who says Skye's lesion is on the left frontal lobe of her brain.

Laura said Skye has returned to classes at Rutgers where she is a sophomore majoring in psychology and criminal justice. But she can't participate in one activity she loves: cheerleading.  She is living with several other young women in a house on College Avenue but can't be left alone. "Robert Wood Johnson Hospital is five minutes away and I told the girls not to hesitate to call 911."

Every day, Laura eagerly awaits a text from Skye so she knows her daughter is okay. Skye has many "good days" but there are scary moments where her extremities feel ice cold or she just feels scared. Laura says it's all she can do to "appear full of confidence" for Skye when she is really so anxious she feels like "she's going to have a heart attack."

Skye's condition has created some unexpected financial hurdles as she can no longer apply for athletic scholarships and is now responsible for the full tuition. Laura has been working with the Rutgers financial aid office and says this semester's tuition is taken care of "but then there's next semester." There's also the added medical and travel expenses.

Laura jokingly says that she'd like Maroon 5's lead singer Adam Levine to make contact with Skye. "We were on the way to his concert," she laughs. "Maybe he can show up at Rutgers and sing for the girls in the house."

A GoFundMe account has been created to help with Laura's expenses and Skye's tuition.

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