A day at a music festival earlier this month ended in tragedy for a 28-year-old woman after she was kicked in the head by a crowd surfer.
Danielle Uskiwich, a secretary at St. Charles High School, died on Tuesday, more than a week after the freak accident that occurred at Pointfest in the St. Louis area of Missouri on May 16.
Uskiwich had been dealing with headaches in the days before attending the outdoor music festival, her family told KSDK, but said she didn’t want the pain to stop her from going.
While listening to Sleep Theory perform, Uskiwich was kicked in the head by a crowd surfer, her family said. A few days later, Uskiwich went to an urgent care clinic after the pain had worsened. Less than 48 hours later, she was admitted to the emergency room.
“They found out that she had a brain bleed,” her cousin Kristin Shelton told KSDK. “So they admitted her and then after they admitted her into the hospital she ended up having her first stroke.”
She then suffered another stroke, KSDS reports, followed by a surgery during which doctors discovered additional hidden blood clots in her brain.
Despite the surgery, Uskiwich was placed in intensive care, where she never recovered.
“They determined that there really wasn’t anything left that they could do,” Shelton said. “So her mom, her dad, and her fiancé, Jason, made the call to donate her organs.”
Now, her grieving family is remembering the beloved school secretary, fiancée and devoted St. Louis sports fan whose death has left a community heartbroken.
“It was just a freak accident that happened, but as a family we’re kind of taking it as a blessing in disguise that if she hadn’t had this injury, she wouldn’t have been at the hospital when she had her stroke. She could have been driving or alone,” Shelton said.
Uskiwich was a beloved presence in the community, where she worked as a secretary at St. Charles High School and previously served as a secretary at Hardin Middle School.
“In the time Dani was at Hardin, she dedicated herself to forming relationships with students, parents, and staff. She was a kind face who greeted our visitors, and worked with students on their attendance,” Hardin Middle School said in a statement.
In a GoFundMe created to help cover medical and funeral expenses, Uskiwich was remembered as someone who brought “love, laughter, and energy to the people around her.”
As of Thursday, it has raised almost £30,000 towards a goal of $40,000.
Her cousin told KSDK that the family is finding comfort in knowing her organ donation may save the lives of others.
“I was thinking about the people who were getting that phone call, ‘Your life’s about to change because now you have a donation from somebody,’” Shelton said.
