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A Healing Journey
CHALFONT, Pa. – High school junior Journey Riling and friends celebrated the holidays out on the town, but an automobile accident changed everything in an instant that night in December 2024.
Four vehicle occupants received minor injuries.
Journey, who was in the middle of the back seat, was not as fortunate. She sustained a diffuse axonal injury, a severe type of traumatic brain injury (TBI).
“I woke up in the middle of the night by a text message from Journey’s sister saying, ‘I love you and I miss you,’ but it was jarring. I knew something was wrong with one of my kids,” said Shannon McGinty, Journey’s mother. “Within moments of getting out of bed, I received a phone call informing me that Journey had been involved in a very bad car accident.”
Following 19 days in the hospital, the Bucks County teenager transitioned to Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Hospital Emily Howatt Pliskatt Pediatric Unit in Bethlehem to begin inpatient rehabilitation for her TBI under the guidance of Pediatric Rehabilitation Medical Director Kimberly Kuchinski, MD, MPH, and the expert team.
“I don’t have memories from the accident or my time in the hospital, but when I began spending more time awake and participating in physical, occupational, speech and language and recreational therapy sessions, I made progress quickly,” Journey said.
This is Journey’s story:
In June 2025, Good Shepherd honored 17-year-old Journey and her family at the 2025 Gala in the Garden, an annual event supporting Good Shepherd’s inpatient pediatric rehabilitation program.