‘I’m taking back control’: 22-year-old hit by car on Water Street talks recovery

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) - Samantha Zganjar and Chloe Handrich were on Water St. celebrating a recent graduation on July 20 when the two 22-year-olds were hit by a car. 

They say the driver crashed through a barricade and hit them, sending them flying into the air. 

Samantha was knocked unconscious and left with broken bones all throughout her body. 

Chloe was in the ICU for a week after the incident, with a shattered pelvis, broken tibia, a concussion, and several more injuries. 

On Saturday, Sept. 27, Chloe returned to Water St. for the first time since the night of July 20, for a fundraiser at Elwood’s. The bar is selling t-shirts with proceeds going to both families. 

“It is slow and hard, and every day comes with a new challenge,” Handrich said. “I’m still very much in that recovery process.”

Handrich says she has good days and bad days but is pushing to have more good than bad. 

“This driver took so much from me, took a lot of my youth, took a lot of what is supposed to be a really great time in my life and I’m not going to let her have any more control over my life,” Handrich said. “I’m taking back control.”

Even more than two months later, the injuries are still stacking up for Handrich. 

She says she was recently diagnosed with a new fracture in her leg that will have to heal on its own because of all the metal already stabilizing her tibia. 

Despite the constant rehab and new injuries, Handrich is staying positive and was in high spirits on Saturday. 

“If anything, this whole experience has just taught me what amazing people I have in my life,” Handrich said. "I've really been trying to get out of the house, trying to take my life back a little more now that I have more control over my pain.”

The Zganjar family was also at Elwood’s on Saturday, they say Samantha’s recovery is going smoothly and that she was in a wedding on Saturday. 

To donate to the families, you can click here for Samantha and here for Chloe.