The Virginia car crash made national headlines: an illegal immigrant with a previous record of DUI charges crashes into a car carrying three nuns. One Sister dies while two others are seriously injured. The man, 24-year-old Carlos A. Martinelly-Montano, is sentenced to twenty years in prison for felony murder and other related charges.
However, few know the story of one of the surviving nuns, 71-year-old Sister Charlotte Lange. The woman, who devotes 32 hours per week visiting the sick and injured at a local hospital, suffered a traumatic brain injury in the crash and is now, in her own words, a different person.
She reports that her serious head injury left her with hearing problems, memory issues, and other permanent injuries. Her curly hair now grows straight. She admits that she would not want to go through the process of healing again. However, she believes that the accident made her a kinder and more thoughtful person.
What does she think of the man that took her friend’s life and put her in the hospital for weeks? She feels nothing but sadness and forgiveness, she told the Washington Post. She could have been an alcoholic in another life and she believes that the crash was merely an accident. She also believes that the nun killed in the accident, 66-year-old Sister Denise Mosier, would have forgiven the drunk driver as well.