Family of Hopkins HS student hurt in crash on Highway 7 shares positive update

HOPKINS, Minn. (FOX 9) - The family of the Hopkins High School student who was seriously injured in a crash on Highway 7 in Minnetonka has shared a positive update on her journey to recovery. 

In a post on Lauren Olson's Caring Bridge, her family said that on Sunday Olson was awake, looking around and following voices. Olson is still on a ventilator and feeding tubes, but her family said they are hoping the tubes can be removed in the next two or three days. 

"I got to visit beautiful Lauren today! When I came in she was awake and looking around. She was following all the voices. I took her hand and Jody told her I was here and she smiled at me! My heart jumped out of my chest. What a fighter," the post said. 

Olson still has the stent in her head, as doctors would like the pressure in her brain to keep going down, the post said. Olson will continue to wear a neck brace to keep things stable as her clavicle heals. Olson had a rod put in her thigh which the family says is healing well, and she's moving that leg. 

"The doctors and nurses are blown away by her progress over the past 24 hours. They said she has made amazing strides!" the post finished. 

On March 5, Olson was making a turn from westbound Highway 7 onto southbound Williston Road just before 2:30 p.m. when she was hit by a 29-year-old driver from Minneapolis, according to the Minnesota State Patrol. 

Traffic cameras caught more than a dozen good Samaritans rushing over to help. 

According to a Hennepin County search warrant, the person who hit Olson's car was driving, operating, or controlling the motor vehicle under the influence of a combination of alcohol and a controlled, or intoxicating substance. The driver also had a Minnesota Identification card status that was currently revoked.