Hop-Yo on Main Street has been hosting a fundraiser for injured Hopkinton teenager Raphaela Cristeli. PHOTO/JERRY SPAR
The best friends of the Hopkinton teen who was severely injured after being struck by a car on July 4 described what they witnessed and how fundraisers to support her medical expenses have exploded in less than a week’s time.
Raphaela Cristeli, a 16-year-old Hopkinton High School rising junior, was hit by a car while walking across the New Bedford-Fairhaven Bridge that afternoon. She was attending an annual Independence Day weekend celebration with friends, according to Isla Clarke. Clarke, who described Cristeli as her best friend in a Wednesday interview with the Independent, said she and her friends witnessed the accident and tried to help as Cristeli was motionless and bleeding in the road.
“We were going to go on my dad’s boat,” Clarke explained. The family has a tradition of viewing the holiday fireworks and celebrating on the boat with friends.
Her dad asked if a few of the teens, including Cristelli, could go across the street to get some ice. Cristeli, nicknamed Rafa, started across the road before the others.
“I saw when she got hit,” said Clarke. “She was thrown up into the air.”
Added Clarke: “Someone screamed, ‘She’s dead!’”
“The car that hit her was going well over the speed limit,” Clarke continued, noting that she is waiting to see the report from the Massachusetts State Police to confirm her belief. “At first, the driver didn’t stop. I don’t think she realized that she hit Rafa.”
Other cars had stopped to let Cristeli cross, she added.
Clarke noted that the driver also might have been injured, as she was taken from the scene in an ambulance. The woman, she said, appeared to be in her 20s.
One of the friends immediately began trying to resuscitate Cristeli, according to Clarke. He removed his shirt to create a tourniquet to control the bleeding from her head. Clarke called 911 and rushed to her best friend’s side.
Said Clarke: “She wasn’t breathing, and there was no pulse.”
Clarke complimented an off-duty female police officer who performed CPR until emergency responders arrived and transported Cristeli to a local hospital. Once the bleeding was stabilized, Cristeli was transported to Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island, because of the severity of her injuries.
Sophia Carolino, who also attempted to cross the road with Cristeli, said she has known her “my whole life.”
“My mom is her godmother,” she said in an interview with the Independent. “The two of us have always been like sisters. We each have one brother, so we were like the sisters we always wanted. And she’s my best friend forever.”
Carolino said Cristeli is known for her “gorgeous laugh” and “bright smile.”
Added Carolino: “She is the type of person that you could go to and tell her anything, and she’d be by your side.”
Carolino also said that the car that struck Cristeli appeared to be speeding, and that another car had stopped to let her cross.
“What happened, from my point of view, was that we were all going to cross the road,” she explained. “Rafa ran out ahead of us. The car that stopped blocked Rafa’s view of the other car.”
She added that there also were people crossing the road about 100 feet away.
“It wasn’t like we were trying to be stupid or anything,” she added. “It was really innocent. I was able to see the car coming. I yelled, ‘Rafa, stop!’ Then the car hit her.”
The car that struck Cristelli “swerved off to the side of the road,” she said.
That evening, Clarke, Carolino and their friends gathered at the Clarke family’s summer home on Cape Cod to process the unnerving event.
“Everyone who was there who witnessed it is doing a lot better now than they were that day,” Clarke shared. “We all have so much guilt. We’re blessed that she’s alive and still with us.
“Everyone considers Rafa a good friend,” Clarke continued. “We wanted to let people know what happened and find a way to help.”
The next day, Clarke created a GoFundMe page to help with Cristeli’s medical expenses and other support services.
“In the first couple of hours, we raised $15,000,” she said. “Everyone she knows was posting it on their [social media] stories.”
As of July 11 at midnight, the GoFundMe had raised $34,312 from 583 donations.
“After the fact, we learned that the lady who hit her is responsible for covering all of the medical expenses that Rafa’s insurance won’t cover,” said Clarke. “But there will be other expenses.”
The friendship between Clarke and Cristeli first developed when they were in the same middle school classes during the pandemic.
“She was new to town,” said Clarke. “We started hanging out every day after school. My entire family considers her part of ours.”
Cristeli has multiple surgeries
As of Wednesday, Cristelli had three surgical procedures, Clarke said.
“The first one was to stop her internal bleeding,” she said. “They were operating on her stomach and had to remove her spleen, which had.ruptured.”
On Saturday, Cristeli had an operation to alleviate the bleeding in her brain. On Wednesday, she had surgery on her pelvis and fractured hips, Clarke said.
Clarke and Carolino been allowed to visit Cristeli because of their close friendship.
Said Clarke: “[On Tuesday], I got to hold her hand. I will be there every day.”
She shared that Cristeli is expected to be able to see visitors on Monday. Because of the outpouring of support from classmates and friends, Clarke organized a spreadsheet for visitors to reserve time frames so that Cristeli would not be overwhelmed.
“Rafa would want us to have a good summer and not worry about her,” she added. “She is so strong, and she is recovering so fast.”
Clarke said that Cristeli’s parents are “doing well.”
“They are so positive,” she added. “They are so happy that she is still alive.”
Carolino added that she has visited Cristeli nearly every day.
Local fundraising efforts sprout
On Wednesday night, Clarke attended a fundraising event at Hop-Yo. The popular frozen yogurt shop on Main Street donated a portion of its sales between 4-9 p.m. toward Cristeli’s recovery, while staff members offered their tips.
Carolino said she also attended the Hop-Yo event on Wednesday. It was expanded to all day on Thursday because of its success.
“We were able to raise $1,000 in online tips, plus $1,600 in cash tips on Wednesday,” she said. “It’s amazing how we got to raise that much money so quickly.”
In addition, Clarke said other small businesses have reached out, offering to donate their proceeds over the next few days.
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