Sofia Carlos-Cuellar, a chemistry lecturer involved in a two-car collision on Feb. 4, has improved enough to be moved from Madison to Mercy Hospital in Dubuque for intense rehab.

Carlos-Cuellar had a hematoma in her brain, her husband Ramon Cuellar said. There was pressure on her brain and the doctors inserted a drain for a week to help relieve that pressure.

Photograph by Exponent Staff

According to WebMD.com, a hematoma in the brain is bleeding that occurs between the skull bone and dura mater, a layer of tissue between the skull and brain.

Sofia has the ability to open her right eye and she is eating on her own, Cuellar said. On Tuesday, she was upgraded to eating solid foods.

“She is starting to remember a lot of things,” Cuellar said. “Sometimes it’s the oddest things she remembers, but her memory is coming back.”

The Cuellar family has announced that there will be an addition joining their family.

“Sofia is pregnant,” Cuellar said. She is 15 weeks along.

Carlos-Cuellar is going through three types of therapy for three hours everyday, Cuellar said. She is taking physical therapy to work on her walking and coordination, occupational therapy to work on her abilities with her upper body and everyday tasks like putting on a shirt and speech therapy to work on her cognitive actions.

March 24 was the seventh week since the collision, Cuellar said. Many people involved with her healing say she is a miracle person. No one expected her to be this far this quickly.

“She is planning on coming back next fall semester,” Carlos-Cuellar said. “All she talks about is coming back and her students miss her.”

“If anyone has had her for an instructor, they know how she affects students’ lives,” Tim Zauche, associate professor of chemistry, said.

The Alchemist Club and Student Organization of Latinos, in conjunction with other organizations, are working on fundraising for the Cuellar family, Zauche said. There has been, and will be in the future, desks set up in Glenview and PSC where students, faculty and staff can make donations.

“If each student donated $1, it would be over $7,000 to help cover expenses,” Zauche said.

Students interested in visiting Carlos-Cuellar, can visit from 4 to 6 p.m., Cuellar said.

“We want to say thank you for all the prayers and support from the UW-Platteville students, staff and faculty,” Cuellar said.