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New neurosurgeon inspired by her mother's battle with injury
0810DOCTOR 2
Neurosurgeon Betsy Grunch, left, and her mother, Betty Uriegas, in front of Uriegas’ South Hall home Thursday evening. - photo by NAT GURLEY
On a summer night in 1994, Betty Uriegas was found trapped and paralyzed in her police patrol car, which was wrapped around a tree trunk in the Chicopee neighborhood. Her neck had been snapped in the crash and she was unable to move her hand to radio for help — or ever again.Uriegas’ daughter, Betsy Grunch, was 13 years old at the time of her mother’s accident and could never have imagined that it would be the catalyst that lead her to become one of fewer than 250 female neurosurgeons in the United States. “She’s my inspiration,” Grunch said.