The principal of a local high school and his family are set to return from Hawaii after a car accident that seriously injured his daughter.

River Bluff Principal Jacob Smith was driving an SUV with his wife and three children on board on the big Island of Hawaii June 28 when the vehicle apparently hydroplaned, according to the Hawaii Police Department, colliding with an oncoming vehicle. Bekah, Smith’s 18-year-old daughter, was seriously hurt in the crash, suffering a C1 vertebral fracture and a brain injury.

After a successful surgery July 2 to repair her neck fracture, Bekah is set to return to the east coast for further treatment, the family posted to the website CaringBridge.

The rest of the family is set to fly to Atlanta Thursday, July 13, with Bekah likely following a couple days behind, being transported from Hawaii, where she has been treated at The Queen's Medical Center in Honolulu, to continue treatment in the Shepherd Center Foundation Brain Injury Rehabilitation Program.

Bekah is set to be flown to Atlanta via air ambulance.

“Bekah has kept us in awe with her steady progress. Physically, her right side continues to be very weak,” her parents posted July 10 to CaringBridge.

“She is left-handed, so she's been able to write, color, paint, and feed herself. Cognitively, her language and comprehension are improving by the minute. In the last two days, her spontaneous speech has increased, and she continues to express her gratefulness and love to those taking care of her.”

The community continues to offer help to the family, which is accepting donations through CaringBridge and a GoFundMe page. That GoFundMe was a little more than $1,000 away from its $45,000 goal as of the morning of July 11.