Woman struggles to heal after being hit by alleged drunk driver

Porche Monque Dunn, 33, of Seagrams Court, was talking with a friend outside the End Zone, at 3601 New Bern Ave. in Raleigh, in the early hours of April 30 when a driver pulled out of a parking spot and hit Dunn, pinning her against another car.

"Just that bang ... I have not taken a step on my feet since then," Dunn said. In the course of a week, Dunn has had three surgeries, four blood transfusions and hours of sleepless worry. 

Police charged Heather Pauline Corbett, 24, of Wakeline Drive in Wendell, with driving while impaired and felony serious injury by motor vehicle. 

Dunn said it was an average Friday night. She went out with friends to mingle, dance and have a few drinks. They were leaving the bar when the collision happened. 

Dunn said she immediately knew the damage to her leg was serious. She described feeling the blood pumping from her mangled leg. A friend took off her T-shirt to create a tourniquet while they waited for police and an ambulance. 

"From my knee down, I have no feeling whatsover," she said.

Dunn will spend Mother's Day, and many days thereafter, in the hospital. On Friday night, her 14-year-old daughter, Kymiah, was at her side. They won't be able to shop, eat out or otherwise celebrate together on Sunday in any of the traditional ways.

On Saturday, Dunn is scheduled for a fourth surgery. Doctors will take a muscle from her back to help rebuild her calf, she said. 

Over time, she will have to relearn how to walk. "I have to go back to the stages of a baby with my 14-year-old daughter watching me," she said through tears. Kymiah's grandmother is caring for her while Dunn is hospitalized.

While she is angry that her life was changed in a minute of carelessness, Dunn is grateful to be alive. "I've had a lot of love from everywhere and want to tell everybody 'thank you,'" she said.