On Nov27, 2023 we received a call that changed the trajectory of our family. It was someone from Asbury University calling to tell us that our daughter was on the way to the hospital and she was seriously hurt. The first few days after this were a blur. Lots of family calling and stopping their lives to come to the hospital. Several people that we knew in the administration at Asbury, people we had gone to school with, called and came by. They provided some meals for us. We were there for almost 2 weeks. Finally after 6 days Bella was able to get taken off the respirator and come out of sedation. She spent 5 more days in ICU and then a couple of days in a step-down room before being released. During the last week of her stay much of the Asbury contact faded and the day we went home it stopped. With the exception of a couple of messages from the school pastor and her class advisor we never heard a word from anyone.

I reached out to one of the administration staff a few weeks later to see about getting her mail that was at the CPO. That was the first time since we came home that there was any communication with Asbury Administration.

No checking to see if we got home ok, no checking to see how Bella was doing, no hope y’all have a Merry Christmas.

Nothing.

And ever since then they have still not reached out to us in any way. I take that back.

They did reach out on their own to tell us that they couldn’t approve a post on the parent’s Facebook page asking for prayers for Bella and that the investigation would find something soon.

They also reached out to tell us that they couldn’t take our calls and that we needed to call the sheriff if we had questions.

Is this the actions of an institution that claims to follow the teachings of Christ or is this the actions of an institution that is only concerned with protecting its reputation?

They are doing everything in their power to keep this story buried just as they have done with every other issue that could make them look less than perfect.

This has become our family story. It’s not what we want.

We shouldn’t have to fight tooth and nail to find answers.

We shouldn’t have to beg the school to do the right thing and actually help find out what happened and who is responsible. That should be the number one priority for them because there is someone out there who did this to Bella and may well do it to another student.

We shouldn’t have to go to the media and mount social media campaigns to get traction with this.

We shouldn’t be treated like the villains when our daughter is the victim.

#justiceforbella