CLEVELAND – The mother of a Vermilion girl critically injured when she was struck by a truck while crossing Liberty Avenue this week continues to show signs of improvement.

“She’s breathing on her own now that they’ve taken the tube out,” Vanessa Nalepka said of her daughter, Krissa, 12, who remains in the intensive care unit of MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland.

The girl’s condition was upgraded from critical to serious Saturday.

“She’s beginning to recognize people’s faces and voices, and is progressing well,” Nalepka said. “We’re seeing another change every four to six hours.”

Krissa was expected to remain in the intensive care unit for at least another day or so.

The girl suffered a broken arm and a serious concussion to the right side of her brain, Vanessa Nalepka said.

The accident occurred Wednesday morning as Krissa tried to cross a busy section of Liberty Avenue from an apartment complex where she lives to a McDonald’s restaurant or a Speedway gas station.

After crossing the westbound lanes of Liberty Avenue, Krissa entered the eastbound lanes, where the driver of a van saw her and stopped. The driver of a pickup in an inside lane did not see the girl in time and struck her. The driver was not cited.

Vanessa Nalepka, who works for a home health care firm in Elyria, said it might take a few more days before the family will know the prognosis for how much therapy and rehabilitation Krissa will eventually need. The girl is responding to simple requests, talking and moving all of her limbs. “She’s in and out of it but when she wakes up, she’s talking … saying, ‘Give me a hug and kiss.’ ”

Krissa’s mother expressed gratitude to everyone who has helped her daughter, including the driver who struck her. “He got help right away,” she said.

She also thanked friends, neighbors and strangers in Vermilion for their concern and support.

“Some of them don’t even know me but they’ve been just wonderful,” Nalepka said. “Without them I could not have done it. There’s churches praying for Krissa, including St. Mary’s and Lowell Street Baptist Church in Elyria.”

Contact Steve Fogarty at 329-7146 or sfogarty@chroniclet.com.

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