How to resolve AdBlock issue?
Seventeen-year-old Kya Hill's right arm was severed in the crash, which occurred inside the Napa County line on Highway 29, according to reports from the scene and the California Highway Patrol.
Hill was riding with her boyfriend, 22-year-old Samuel Weatherwax, also of Middletown, in his 2005 Dodge pickup when the crash occurred at about 6:55 p.m. Thursday, the CHP's Napa office reported.
The CHP report said Weatherwax was driving southbound on Highway 29 north of Tubbs Lane when the vehicle lost traction and left the roadway.
The pickup's right side hit a rock embankment on the highway's west edge. Hill's right arm – which was out the passenger window – also hit the embankment, the CHP said.
Weatherwax, who was uninjured, drove Hill back to the Middletown Fire Station, where Cal Fire paramedics tended to the girl until a REACH air ambulance few her from the station to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, according to the CHP report.
The CHP said the crash's cause is still under investigation.
In the wake of the crash and her injury, Hill – according to accounts shared by her friends – appears to be in good spirits, and is inspiring those around her.
A friend, CyCy Taylor, posted this message on Lake County News' Facebook page on Friday morning, which she said had been posted several hours earlier by Hill: “Hey guys!! I'm alive(: and now I'm left-handed because my arm got ripped off lol. Thank you everyone for the love and prayers!! And I get a fake arm(:.”
Readers and friends alike wished her a speedy recovery, and on Hill's Facebook page her attitude was cited as an inspiration.
Her friend Devin Negrete called her one of the strongest people he's ever met. “Her attitude through this whole thing is truly inspirational.”
Maria Gonzalez wrote that she learned a valuable lesson “from the most amazing person in the world last night” – which is not to dwell on what you don't have.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
