Dear Family and Friends of Juliana Ramos,

As many of you may know, Juliana was in a serious car accident on October 2, 2009 at approximately 3:30am. She survived with swelling of the brain, several skull fractures and multiple fractures to her beautiful face (though you'd never know it to look at her!) and slipped into a coma. Juliana is a vibrant 23 year old with plans to marry Chris Medina December 12, 2009.

Many of you have asked what you can do to help Juliana and Chris through this difficult time. Your prayers and kind wishes are really appreciated and have been really helpful. Now we can use your help to assist Juliana with medical bills and other financial needs.

Thank you for your time and consideration. We look forward to whatever support you can provide.

From Janet:

First of all, I have to once again thank all of those who put together such a heartfelt support for Juliana. My gratitude can never truly be expressed. For all of you who were in attendance, I am now glad I came because it was extremely uplifting, yet again.

Juliana is still about the same, her progress was remarkable today but additional achievements may take a few more days. This is a long distance race, not a sprint. We don’t plan to tire so, once again, we wait for Juli.

For those of you that asked (or were not there today), here is my message given at the benefit ( Sorry, I promise I won’t make them all this long):

“As you know, today was to be Juliana’s bridal shower. That was just one of the many activities that go into planning a wedding. We have been planning it for a year and half and were coming close to completion (ad lib coming…I planned it for a year and a half, Juliana started participating about 4 months ago, once again in her timetable). I was getting really stressed about the wedding, the cost, the details, the deadlines….but it only took one phone call to want THOSE problems back.
This has been a year of challenges for our family. This particular event has been called ‘horrible’, ‘saddening’ and ‘tragic’. And yes, this is every family’s nightmare. My beautiful, promising, vibrant daughter’s life came to a screeching pause 15 days, 12 hours ago. The original prognosis was grim. The first hours, they did not expect she would live. Beyond that, they didn’t expect she would come out of the coma at all. Minute by Minute, breath by breath, we held ours and prayed. To say that our feelings have been overwhelming would really be an understatement.
But thanks to all of this, all of the support, all of you, we have never fallen too far into despair. What started as just a mother’s irrational hope for a recovery actually evolved to a glimmer, a possibility and, as of this morning, a reality. As small of a step as it may seem, Juliana was able to hold up 2 fingers upon command! For those of you who know her, anything ‘upon command’ is an accomplishment. But what this really means is that its not just my desire for her to improve anymore. It is happening. That very simple ‘2 fingers’ is according to her Neurosurgeon, a complex command. For the first time, those 2 fingers really meant ‘peace’…peace of mind.

So for all of this incredible potential, I credit all of you. During the last 2 weeks I have been forced to recognize that 1. I am not as strong as I thought, 2. I am not as all positive as I thought, and 3. The weight of the world is not only on me. You are all helping me carry it. I also realize all the wonderful things that are happening all around us. Relationships have been formed, strengthened and repaired. Its powerful, its healing and its real. I could go on and on but I need to save some details for Juli to share on Oprah. But I do need to take this opportunity to personally thank all of you for pulling together in support of my little girl, my family and me. Especially, I need to thank Lori, Toula, Allison, Sarah, Gloria and Donnie for working so hard to make this event successful. Even though money can’t make her heal, the unknown factor in her recovery is provided by your support. I’ve said it before, I will say it again, Juliana is magical. This room is electric, you all are wonderful, her recovery is tangible and I am grateful. Thank you.”