While Olivia Stover has no recollection of what happened to her the night of the Waukesha Christmas Parade, she's recovering from her injuries and making new positive memories on the way.
Hundreds gathered in Oconomowoc to attend a fundraising event organized by the Golden Beaver Ice Fishing Team. Every year the group picks a family with a child in need. This year their hearts were moved after meeting Olivia.
The 8-year-old was giggling and playing joyfully with her friends Saturday afternoon at Lucky Chucky's after a day of ice fishing at Silver Lake
"The resilience you saw in that little girl as soon as we walked in the front door and her energy and spunk to even think that she still had that after what she went through it was 100% confirmed that we picked the right child, she is going to move mountains," said Michele Baumann, one of the organizers of the event.
Olivia was injured in the Waukesha Christmas Parade while walking with the Xtreme Dance Team. She suffered two brain bleeds with swelling as well as a broken toe and sprained ankle that recently required surgery.
"It was a very traumatic experience so we're gonna have some work going forward with that not just for her but for you know all of us because we were all there," said Jennifer Stover, Olivia's mother.
Olivia spent nearly 2 weeks in the hospital and still can't get back to dancing with her team but she has consistently
shown up to practices each week just to be with her team.
"You know that there's a reason that she overcame what she did because of her strength and it just made us even more proud to know that's the type of child we got to support," said Baumann.
Organizers of the fundraiser say this event was the largest turnout they have seen for one of their events and that they are expecting a record-breaking number in donations.
