4 traumas in wk. can't get Jillian down

TAUNTON, Mass. (WPRI) - A local college student survives a near tragedy, and then, within days, her closest loved ones are lost. But she's far from giving up.

Jillian Bzdula is fighting muscular dystrophy while she studies to be a teacher, and can't get anywhere without her van. It's got 279,000 miles on it, and the wheelchair lift that gets her in and out of the vehicle is creaky, cranky, rusty and difficult.

"I need it to get to school. It's my independence. My lifeline."

Last December, Eyewitness News did a story about Jillian's fight to get her older, dysfunctional wheelchair replaced by her health care provider. (Click here to read the story.)

"It's just kind of funny how it happened so quickly right after the story. Everything started falling into place," Jillian told us this week.

Still, things go wrong in our lives.

Jillian was just getting ready to get out of the van one recent rainy day, when the old rusty wheelchair lift proved a serious danger.

Jillian was on the lift waiting for it to descend. A small steel flap is supposed to stay up until the lift is on the ground, and keep the chair from rolling off.

The electric wheelchair started spinning its wheels on its own. Back it went. Jillian was helpless.

"I was screaming, oh my God, oh my God," said Jillian's mother. "I said to her, stop... But it was too late, she kept saying, I'm falling, I'm falling."

Jillian tipped head over wheels, crashing on the ground, the 350-pound chair on top of her.

"I thought she was dead," said her mother. "She didn't say anything. I thought she was gone."

Jillian needed ten stitches from the fall. After the hospital that day, she was mostly okay. Getting better. Recovering.

It got worse -- emotionally -- very, very fast.

The next day? Her fiance passed away. She'd known Mikey since they were three years old. He'd died from muscular dystrophy complications.

Two days later? Her father passed away. He'd already been ill.

And then right after that? She lost one of her best friends.

Tears fell in droves, but there was no panic -- or quit -- in Jillian.

How did she move forward after a week like that?

"I don't know," she said this week. "But I know they wouldn't want me to sit around and cry... about how they've gone."

Your friends and neighbors are on the same level as your family. They help you get through the worst of your lives.

Friends and neighbors, like some of the firefighters in Taunton who know Jillian, are teaming up to help get rid of the old van... but no matter what happens next, those who know her expect Jillian to smile and find a way.

"She's tough," said her mother. "She's handled herself pretty good considering everything she went through."

"People always tell me that, but I don't consider myself tough," said Jillian.

The firefighters have actually found a van to replace the aging transport, but now they -- and Jillian -- are trying to raise enough money to buy it.

They're holding a fundraiser at the Portuguese American Civic Club on School Street in Taunton on July 15. Tickets are $15. Click here to go to the event's Facebook page. You can also call Jillian for information at (508) 415-7023.

You can also send donations, with check or money order payable to:

Friends of Rosemarie Bzdula
15 Chandler Ave Apt 51
Taunton MA 02780