Kayla Somoles and Angelica Mormile made it back together.
The two students were seated one in front of the other during the accident that killed three of their sorority sisters and put them in the hospital in March.
Now, with six months of recovery behind them, the two Alpha Xi Delta sisters are continuing to take steps toward their “new normal” of school and life on campus.
“It’s a complete miracle,” Mormile said. “Who would have thought that we would be back here right now and living in the house.”
Alpha Xi Delta, and the sorority house Mormile is referring to, is what helped her and Somoles make it back to campus just months after the accident.
“I felt so happy,” Somoles said. “We weren’t even supposed to be back on campus yet.”
Both Mormile and Somoles had multiple injuries as a result of the crash and had to go through surgeries and therapy before returning.
Mormile suffered slight brain damage from an injury to her spine, a broken tibia in her leg, a broken wrist and some damage to her lower jaw. Somoles suffered fractures from her forehead to her jaw, her left arm and wrist, nose, two ribs, two toes, lost four teeth and dislocated a hip.
“When I first got out of the hospital I got stared at a lot,” Somoles said about her injuries. “It was nice to come back here because nobody knows. I’ll tell people that I broke my face and they always say ‘no way.’”
Throughout their recovery, Somoles, Mormile and their families were in contact with each other, and sometimes even competed by trying to get better faster, Somoles said. Somoles beat out Mormile in the battle of being able to stand up while taking a shower.
“We saw each other almost every week and our moms became a lot closer because of it all,” Mormile said.
Getting close with each other and their daughters made sending Mormile and Somoles off to school again hard, but they were still supportive of their decision.
Since returning, Mormile and Somoles have been relying on their sorority sisters, like Alpha Xi Delta President Julie Rego, for support.
“I’m proud of them,” Rego said. “It just shows how strong of a sisterhood we have and how strong they are.”
Overall the sorority is eager to offer any support Mormile and Somoles may need, Rego said.
“They stick up for us if there’s anything we need,” Somoles said.
While Somoles has previously lived in the house, this is Mormile’s first year living with her sisters.
“Those girls are like my second family,” Mormile said. “I’m just so comfortable living in that house.”
While her sorority has become part of her family, Mormile now knows she’ll always have someone else to help move on from the tragedy — her sister, Somoles.
“We’ll always have that special bond,” Mormile said.