ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — There will be a fish fry fundraiser for Megan Busch at Bethel Baptist Church on U.S. Highway 90 July 31. Dinners of mullet, beans, coleslaw and bread are $6. For more information, the church’s Web site is bbcrobertsdale.com.

“It’s probably going to be more than some people can eat,” said Rodney Busch, Megan’s father.

Busch, now 10, was one of three girls struck by a car New Year’s eve. Busch had walked to a nearby convenience store on Pope Street in Robertsdale with her sister Jessica, then 15 and their friend, Taylor Hathcock, then 14. Megan and Hathcock were life-flighted to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola. Jessica was taken to hospital via ambulance.

Megan still does not recall the accident.

“I remember waking up in the helicopter and hearing Taylor screaming,” she said.

While the other girls have recovered from their injuries, Megan remans in a wheelchair. Her mother, Kim Busch, says the Central Christian School student’s spine was injured at the 12th thoracic vertebra.

The family has been in contact with the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation and was advised to go to the the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore. The family traveled there this spring, and while a cure for Megan’s condition was not found, Megan learned new skills like transferring herself from her wheelchair to other places.

Megan also was able to walk at the hospital with the aid of a walker and braces, and a set of braces is being prepared for the vivacious girl.

“They told us the same thing (as other hospitals have told the family), but Megan has a lot more feeling than other people with an injury in the same place,” said Rodney Busch.

To help Megan keep up her strength and to perhaps regain more use of her legs, the family would like to obtain an RT300 Functional Electrical Stimulation Cycle, something that was recommended to the family to help Megan keep up her leg strength. This will keep Megan strong enough for her braces and walker.

Information about the bike can be found at restorative-therapies.com.

There’s just one catch — insurance will not pay the estimated $15,000 cost of the cycle. So Bethel Baptist, the family’s church, is holding several events to help the family with expenses. For more information on the fish fry, call 947-5145. Individuals may pick up dinners at the church’s Christian Life Center between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Again, it’s best to call ahead to order a dinner.

And while there has been tragedy, there has been lighter moments.

Megan will be going to Disney World in Florida as a result of the work of the group, “Magic Moments.” According to the group’s Web site, magicmoments.org, the group “Magic Moments fulfills the non-medical wishes of chronically ill Alabama children, providing them an opportunity to turn away from illness and suffering – if only for a moment – and feel what it is like to just be a kid again!”

Megan will be returning to Central Christian School as a fifth-grade student next month. Her family has already toured the school, and there are few obstacles to Megan’s resuming classes. The family has home schooled Megan this summer so she will be entering fifth grade with her classmates.

“I like reading and my friends,” said Megan. “But I do miss having a real teacher.”