Bristol woman fights for life in Uganda

Bristol (WTNH) - A Bristol woman is fighting for her life in Uganda. While working as a private contractor in Iraq, she met a man from Uganda and went to visit Africa. But a bad accident left her paralyzed from the neck down and now her family is desperately trying to get her some help.

42-year-old Dawn Cole of Bristol in better times working as a private contractor in Iraq. But in May, four days before she was to come home from visiting Uganda, Africa, plans changed.

"I got a phone call saying that she was severely injured in a car accident," Elliott Johnson, Cole's brother said. "She rolled down a ravine and was paralyzed."

Dawn was transported to a hospital in Nairobi, Kenya. She was on life-support and has already had two operations. All of this has taken place thousands of miles away from her home and her family. Communication has been difficult, but her brothers were able to speak to her for the first time today.

"But at least, she knew who we were so it was comforting to hear that," Johnson said. "I'm pretty sure it was comforting to her to know that we were still fighting for her."

The State Department was able to send an American doctor to examine her. He said she won't be stable enough to travel for another two months. But because of her injuries, Dawn will need a medical transport flight. According to the American Embassy in Kenya, that will cost $140,000.

Her brothers are now working round the clock at their computer business on North Street in Bristol and their new full-time job of getting help for their sister. On top of the cost of the flight, there's her mounting medical bills. They've already sent $25,000 but the hospital says they need another $30,000 immediately.

These brothers have decided she simply cannot face this alone. They're paying for either an aunt or cousin to go to Africa to be by her side.

"We have to choose between keep paying the bills and also giving my sister some moral support," Brier Cole, Cole's brother, said. "Someone to be down there to hold her hand to be with her. Everything I can do, I do for her."

Dawn Cole does not have insurance because her contract in Iraq had ended and she did not have traveler's insurance.

She is paralyzed from the neck down right now. It's not yet clear if she will be able to regain some feeling or movement once she gets the proper care.

Her brothers have set up an account at Webster Bank called the Dawn Cole Fundraiser if you'd like to help.