Canton mother fights to recover from brain injury after sledding crash at Wayne County park

Yahoo

05-03-2025

What was supposed to be a fun winter day turned into a life-altering tragedy for Jessica Wollweber and her family.
With schools calling a snow day Feb. 13, Wollweber – a 2008 Canton High School graduate who now lives in Garden City – took her 10-year-old daughter, Natalie, to Middlebelt Hill in Hines Park.
To ensure she could help her daughter at the bottom, Wollweber, 34, took the first run alone.
But as she slid down the icy slope, she picked up speed and crashed into a wooded area, slamming into a tree.
The impact knocked her unconscious, leaving her bleeding and struggling to breathe as strangers rushed to help.
'Jessica was actually drowning in her own blood because it was just coming down in her face,' said Wollweber's mother, Michele Maley, a Canton Township resident who said there were no warnings posted at Middlebelt Hill when her daughter crashed into the wooded area.
Natalie borrowed a phone to call her father as emergency responders arrived and rushed Wollweber to the hospital.
The injuries were severe: Doctors performed emergency surgery, removing part of her skull to relieve pressure caused by swelling. She suffered a traumatic brain injury that triggered a stroke. Her neck was fractured at the C1 vertebra, and she sustained multiple facial fractures.
Over the last several weeks, Wollweber has remained in the intensive care unit and is still not fully conscious.
'It's very hard,' Michele Maley said. 'They're telling us, 'Everyone's different. We can't give you an exact timeline of when she's going to wake up or what she's going to be able to do.''
Wollweber's sister, Kelsey Maley, an intensive care unit nurse, is leaning on her medical knowledge while navigating the emotional toll of her sister's condition.
'She had been waking up here and there, but still pretty sleepy,' she said. 'This morning, she was more alert. She had her eyes open for a while and was following commands.'
Kelsey Maley describes her sister as a devoted mother and an easygoing, compassionate person who instantly forms friendships with everyone she meets.
'Being a mom is the most important thing to her,' she said. 'Whatever she does, especially for her kids, she puts a thousand percent into that.
'She's always been my person to talk to. It's hard not having that right now.'
Wollweber's journey to recovery is expected to be long and uncertain, with doctors telling the family it could take six months to a year before they know the full extent of her injuries.
The accident came at a difficult time for the family. Jessica's husband, Larry, recently underwent hernia surgery and has been on medical leave from work.
With both family incomes now in limbo – Jessica Wollweber works as a receptionist and medical biller at a dental office – the financial strain is mounting.
A GoFundMe page, established to help with medical bills and living expenses, has raised about $23,000 so far.
'It's going to be a long haul,' Michele Maley said.
In the days following Jessica's accident, the family was shocked to learn other people were apparently also seriously injured on Middlebelt Hill in Westland. WDIV in Detroit and other news outlets reported at least three sledding incidents involving injuries in the days leading to a decision by Wayne County Parks officials to close the hill.
A Feb. 19 social media post indicated Wayne County Parks officials closed the hill to the public until further notice. "Please be advised that Middlebelt Hill at Hines Park in Westland is currently closed until further notice," the county posted, without elaborating on the reason for the closure.
'Why did it have to take four people to get injured really bad for them to close that hill or do something about it?' Michele Maley said. 'I've seen other sledding areas where there's bales of hay, something to stop you. There was nothing like that.'
A person who answered the phone at Wayne County Parks referred Hometown Life to Wayne County Communications Specialist Penelope Filyo for comment. Filyo did not respond to phone and email messages.
For now, the family is focused on Wollweber's recovery. Her two children are struggling to cope with their mother's absence.
'The youngest is four—she just asks for mommy all the time,' Michele Maley said. 'The oldest knows she had some kind of brain surgery. She's struggling. She cried herself to sleep for a week.'
Still, the family is holding onto hope and the outpouring of community support.
'She's been doing a really good job fighting,' Kelsey Maley said. 'We've been praying.'
Contact reporter Laura Colvin at [e-mail].
This article originally appeared on Hometownlife.com: Canton mother fights to recover from brain injury after sledding crash