Comatose teen facing 8-month hospital stay

<p>Fifteen-year-old Julia Bertoli on Tuesday remained in a coma, and doctors told family she could be in the hospital six to eight months.</p><!-- Nothing to do. The paragraph has already been output --><p>The girl was hit by a car July 3 while crossing a downtown Sebastopol street in a crosswalk. She suffered major head injuries.</p><p>"They are going to do a tracheotomy to help her breathe because of pneumonia and infections in her lungs," said David Rouda, the Bertoli family's attorney.</p><p>There are both hopeful signs and troubling signs, and her family is at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital's intensive care unit daily watching and hoping for improvements, Rouda said.</p><p>"They are there every day, for much of the day, just hanging on any sign that they get," he said.</p><p>Bertoli has been in a coma since the accident and has been on a ventilator, Rouda said.</p><p>She's developed pneumonia, but her vital signs are good and pressure on her brain has been reduced. Only immediate family members are allowed in to see her, Rouda said.</p><p>"They're (the family) trying to work on reorienting their expectations for a long-term treatment," Rouda said. "The feeling there is there's hope, yet it's a long time before we'll know the end result."</p><p>Bertoli, who lives in Petaluma and goes to school in Sebastopol, was walking in town with friends that Friday evening when she was hit.</p><p>She was crossing Healdsburg Avenue at Florence Avenue when she was struck by a vehicle driven by 65-year-old Forestville resident Linda Chilvers.</p><p>Sebastopol Police Officer Greg Devore said Tuesday he's continuing to investigate the crash and contact witnesses. Devore hoped to have his reports completed in the next week or so.</p><p>Bertoli is the daughter of Charlie Bertoli of Texas and Valerie Bertoli of Petaluma.</p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Randi Rossmann at 521-5412 or randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com.</p>