'Hope for Desiree' campaign raises almost $200K for woman dragged under van

The friends of a woman who miraculously survived being dragged by a van for several blocks in downtown Vancouver are rallying others to her story and raising money to help in her recovery.

Around 12:30 a.m. onOct. 12, Desiree Evancio became trapped under a van in the city's downtown, which drove away and began dragging her. It wasn't until several blocks later that the driver noticed she was under the vehicle when he stopped.

Evancio was rushed to hospital with serious injuries. Her family has since said that she will require facial reconstruction and will lose her right eye along with mobility in one of her arms.

Her friends said it's difficult knowing her life will never be the same, but that it's amazing she survived.

"It's a storyabout tragedy. It's also a story about a miracle," said friend Lexi McCaffrey. "It's the positive aspect of the story that people are really rallying around. People are cheering her on, they want to see her do well."

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Evancio has been described as a hard-working, free-spirited person who lovesthe outdoors. Her sister said one of her favourite things to do was climb a tree and read in it.

Evancio is from Ottawa, but had been working in the restaurant industry in Vancouver. The friends she made have now raised close to $200,000 through a campaign called Hope for Desiree to help her recover.

On Sunday, the friendsheld a second fundraiser, this time at the Lamplighter Public House in Gastown, where people donated to attend and could enter draws to win Seattle Seahawks tickets and other sports paraphernalia.

"Desiree's touched a lot of people, she's a really amazing woman," she her friend Kailea Moore. "I think she's made a huge impression around Vancouver as well as around Ottawa."

Itcould be more than a year beforeEvancio, whose middle name is Hope,will be able to get out of hospital. Her friends say she does not yet know the full extent of her injuries.

'It's gonna be a long road'

"That's what I'm most afraid of, I don't know what words to say because of what she'sgoing to have to go through when she finds out how bad this is," said her friend and roommate Katrina Radovic. "I can't even fathom."

Her friends who have seen her in the hospital say that she has been able to give them a thumbs up, confirming to themthat theDesiree, who they say was always the life of the party, still had her positivity.

"I think she's a very strong woman and yeah it will be a shock and it's gonna be a long road for her but I think she's a pretty amazing person and she has so much support behind her which I think will hopefully carry her," said Moore.

• Ottawa woman in for long recovery after being dragged by van