SOUTHOLD, NY — Kim Haeg, paralyzed in a Mattituck crash in 2004 when she was just 17 years old, has died. She was 34 years old.
A funeral mass will be held Saturday, March 25, at 11 a.m. at St. Patrick’s Church, located at 52125 Main Road in Southold.
“She was an inspiration to many, and will be missed,” her father Dennis Haeg told Patch.
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Haeg said Kim had overcome COVID and pneumonia during the past months but died on Monday, March 13.
He said he was thankful that Kim was surrounded by those who loved her when she died.
Although the years since the tragic crash left Kim clinging to life and later, a quadriplegic dependent upon a ventilator, she never lost her innate courage and spirit, her optimism — and an ever-present hope for the future.
The community came together over the years since the crash to buoy her spirits, helping to remodel her Southold home so that it was accessible and Kim could return from the hospital and live with her mother Lorraine.
Over the years, caring neighbors and friends hosted fundraisers and others, such as Captain Bob Rocchetta at Rainbow Charters, Inc. in Orient, arranged a day each year to take Kim out on his fishing boat so that she could enjoy the feeling of the wind in her hair on the open waters, as well as the thrill of catching a fish with a special reel.
Even when faced with the unthinkable, Haeg has said, in past interviews, that she was forever grateful to be alive.
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“It’s a different life than we ever expected but we have learned not only to survive but to live and enjoy each day,” she told SoutholdLOCAL in 2015. “Please remember to appreciate what you have and don’t take for granted the little things in life, like taking a breath of fresh air.”
In past interviews, Haeg said before the crash, she had planned to go to college for interior design. But life changed in a heartbeat and she found herself navigating new waters, having to rely on others to feed her and help her with her daily routine.
Still, she never lost her humor or grace, and was ever mindful of the miracle of life and love.
She planned a high school reunion in past years for friends who attended the event in Greenport, showering Kim with memories and laughter.
And always, Kim has said she believed that she could instill hope in others even during what might seem the darkest of days.
“I like to encourage other people facing the same situation I’m in to look past their injury and go out and do the things they love to do,” she said in the 2015 SoutholdLOCAL interview.
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A full obituary and tribute will follow.
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