Jennifer Warnke was struck by a vehicle on Sept. 28 while she was walking down the street. She sustained a traumatic brain injury and was in a coma for several weeks. Warnke — a 24-year-old Texas resident — has two sons and no health insurance. But Katie Cherry, psychology professor and family friend of Warnke, launched a service drive Monday through the Honor Society of Gerontology, Sigma Phi Omega, to offset the victim’s medical expenses. Cherry said the drive will collect old cell phones and used inkjet cartridges to be recycled. The money raised will directly credit Warnke’s medical account.Donation bins are located outside 119 Hodges, 142 Agricultural Administration Building, 219 Audubon Hall and 141 Huey P. Long Fieldhouse. Warnke is currently undergoing rehabilitation at Quentin Mease Community Hospital in Houston, where her stepmother, Amy Warnke, said she seems to be making gradual progress. She is scheduled to return home today. “Medicaid becomes exhausted after in-hospital stay after a certain amount of time, and she must be out of the hospital for 30 days before it will pick back up,” Amy Warnke said.Neila Donovan, communication disorders assistant professor, said rehabilitation is key to a full recovery, and the longer a person is in a coma, the smaller those odds become.”The problem is with insurance now, cutting people off so quickly, you don’t have a chance to get the maximum amount of rehab that you need,” Donovan said. “Especially with young people with families — it’s really tough.”Donovan’s research deals with analyzing the outcomes of effective treatment and helping to change policies in regard to decision making about funding.”The more research showing that our rehab treatments are effective, hopefully, the more impact we can have on changing policies, so people like this can have more optimum levels of rehabilitation,” Donovan said.In the ’80s and ’90s, patients could stay in rehabilitation up to a year after sustaining a traumatic brain injury, Donovan said. Now it’s about eight weeks.Priscilla Allen, assistant professor of social work, said incidents like this remind people of the frailty, as well as the strength and resiliency, of the human condition.Allen, Donovan and Cherry are members of LSU’s Life Course and Aging Center, which aims to develop an understanding of people’s developmental well being throughout their lifetime.”We look at healthy aging from beginning of life to end of life,” Allen said. “This drive is very aligned with our mission — the well being of people, especially reaching later stages of their life.”Amy Warnke said it was hard to express her family’s appreciation for the University’s support.”We are forever indebted to [Cherry] and all of the supporters at LSU,” Amy Warnke said. “Thank you just does not seem to do the job.”- – – -Contact Sarah Eddington at [email protected]