Ind. fair stage collapse victim walking, talking

PENDLETON, Ind. — A woman who suffered severe head injuries in the Indiana State Fair stage collapse will soon go to a Michigan facility for months of intensive rehabilitation.

Thirty-year-old Andrea Vellinga’s father says she has been making rapid progress since her skull was crushed in the Aug. 13 collapse that killed seven people and injured dozens more.

Steve Voss tells The Herald Bulletin that Vellinga can now walk and talk fluently and has a good short- and long-term memory. The Pendleton woman has been in a long-term care center in Indianapolis for several weeks.

Voss says Vellinga’s next step will be learning how to become independent again through lessons on dish washing, house cleaning and more. The family hopes to bring her home to Pendleton by mid-February.