GoFundMe effort raising money for her ‘long road ahead’
WILDWOOD – Members of the public have donated more than $45,000 to help cover medical costs for the Lithuanian student who was struck by a bullet in Wildwood on July 9.
Vilte Gruzdyte, 20, has been in the AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center-Atlantic City facility since being shot near the Cattle ‘n Clover pub and steakhouse on Pacific Avenue. Gruzdyte was not the intended target of the shooter, identified as William Hoyle, 40, of Wildwood. Hoyle fled the scene but turned himself in to Camden police on July 11.
Gruzdyte, who entered the U.S. as a worker on a J-1 visa, remains in the hospital with a brain injury. According to the GoFundMe page set up for her expenses, “Support Vilte’s Journey to Recovery”: “Vilte has a long road ahead. Doctors have indicated that she’s showing promising signs towards recovery, though with a brain injury, it is expected that she will require long-term intensive care and inpatient physical therapy throughout her rehabilitation, much of which will happen in the United States, away from her home.”
The page goes on to say the costs associated with her recovery could be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, including intensive rehabilitation. Such medical expenses, it reads, are not covered by her insurance. Neither are accommodations for her family, their daily travel to the hospital, or flights for the parents between the U.S. and Lithuania. There are two younger children at home in Lithuania.
“Vilte is demonstrating remarkable strength even in her current state, and all means of support are tremendously appreciated,” according to the GofundMe.
The GoFundMe page organizers include Kyle Morey of the Morey’s Piers organization, Gruzdyte’s employer, and John Lynch, known for his Lunch With Lynch foundation. Lynch said that, despite there not being a big public push to raise money for Gruzdyte, the public has responded tremendously.
He said he could not comment on Gruzdyte’s condition, but would be meeting with her mother and grandmother shortly and would ask what he could release. He said a Lithuanian doctor in Atlantic City has been helping to communicate with the family.
Anyone interested in making a donation to help her in her recovery can go to https://gofund.me/9f10c1c3 and click on “Donate now.”
In the meantime, Hoyle remains in custody in the Cape May Correctional Center. He is charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes, being a person not legally allowed to possess a weapon, possession of an untraceable firearm and possession of a high-capacity magazine.
Contact the reporter, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600, ext. 128.
