is making great strides in her recovery from a broken neck, but while she works toward healing at rehabilitation center, the East Hampton community will come together to show its support for the 17-year-old lifeguard.
A will be held in Doris' honor at , where she is a student, on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. Admission is $20 and other donations are welcome, all of which go through the Hampton Lifeguard Association.
Guests at the BBQ will have the opportunity to step into a video booth and send their well-wishes to Doris in a personal manner with the help of . 50/50 raffle tickets will be sold, as well as a drawings for numerous prizes.
It was originally intendend as a beach BBQ at Atlantic Avenue Beach in Amagansett, the very beach where Doris suffered her injury on Aug. 22 when she dove into the surf after a day on the job.
Organizers, which include the East Hampton Town Lifeguards, the East Hampton Volunteer Ocean Rescue Squad and the East Hampton High School senior class, decided on Thursday to move the party off the beach due to a bad weather and surf forecast. Also, with many items for a silent auction, they felt it would be easier to set up in the high school cafeteria instead of the beach.
Doris, the youngest daughter of Deputy Town Supervisor Theresa Quigley and Tom Quigley, underwent a three-hour surgery at Stony Brook University Medical Center on the night of the accident.
Just days later, h. She soon got back the ability to move one of her legs.
On Tuesday, she was transferred to the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine in New York City, considered one of the top rehab centers in the country.
"She is facing a tremendous battle," her mother told Patch on Tuesday. "She is definitely up to the battle."
Her sister Sally told Patch from California that Doris is even typing — "with two fingers, but it is very exciting."
Doris' injury has been one her fellow lifeguards have been struggling to process, according to Chief Lifeguard John Ryan Jr.
At an organization meeting last week, he said the lifeguards on the scene that day did a phenomanal job, but the unchartered territory came later — no lifeguard has been so severely injured on the job in as long as Ryan could recall.
Normally, he said, lifeguards can breathe a bit easier knowing they helped a swimmer as much as they could.
"With Doris, when you closed that door to the ambulance, you still couldn't breathe," he said.
He met with the lifeguards the next morning, along with Town Supervisor Bill Wilkinson, to help them talk about what happened. He said he wanted them to know it's ok to show emotion.
If you cannot make the event but wish to donate, checks can be made payable to Hampton Lifeguard Association/Quigley fund and forwarded to John Ryan at 7 Meadow Way, East Hampton, NY 11937.
Will you be attending? Tell us why you feel it is important to be there for Doris.
With Reporting By Amy Tangel
