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Fundraiser for Haverhill woman hurt in California accident is Saturday

By Shawn Regan
Staff Writer
Published: April 10, 2008

HAVERHILL — The family of Kaitlin Lyons is hosting a fundraiser Saturday to help pay for the 1997 Haverhill High School graduate's mounting medical expenses and long rehabilitation.

Lyons, 28, suffered life-threatening injuries Feb. 14 when she was struck by a hit-and-run driver in Irvine, Calif., while returning home from her job as a swim coach at a nearby club. Her father, Michael, mother, Laurie, and sisters spent much of the last seven weeks traveling back and forth between Haverhill and California to be with her at the hospital.

Lyon's, a former standout athlete, has arrived home in Haverhill, but the family is unsure whether she will attend the fundraiser. It is from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Knights of Columbus, 505 Sutton St., North Andover.

"We don't want her to be overwhelmed," her father said yesterday. "We may have her come near the end of the evening. We'll probably decide at the last minute whether she's up to it."

Tickets to the event, which will include a live band, buffet and raffles, are $10 and may be purchased at the door or by calling 603-362-9841. Michael Lyons said two sets of two Red Sox tickets will be auctioned off.

Kaitlin's immediate family also includes sister Nora Sauter of Haverhill and brothers Jason Lyons of Seattle and Tyler Lyons of Concord, N.H. Sister Rebecca Moody lives in Atkinson, N.H.

Kaitlin's ordeal is chronicled at www.caringbridge.org/visit/coachkaitlin, where her mother and sister Courtney posted daily journal entries keeping Kaitlin's friends and family in Massachusetts and California updated on her condition and progress. Messages to Kaitlin also may be posted on the site.