Missouri teen beaten into coma during violent brawl is walking again

The Missouri teen who suffered major brain bleeding and damage to her frontal lobe after having her head repeatedly bashed into the concrete by a fellow student during a fight last month near is reportedly now able to walk on her own again. 

In an update posted to 16-year-old Kaylee Gain's GoFundMe page, her mother, April, explained that while she is able to move unsupported for short periods of time, the road to recovery will still be a long one. 

"She is making huge strides in physical therapy and has done extremely well on the physical side of things," April wrote. "She walks without assistance now but we do have to walk right beside her, she has a belt she wears around her waist that we hold on too because her balance and equilibrium gets thrown off pretty easily. She gets dizzy spells often so we do have to be right there with her just in case she were to lose her balance." 

She went on to note that Kaylee must wear a helmet because her left bone flap was removed to give her brain the space it needed to "swell and heal from her injuries." 

"Her brain," April noted, "is exposed right underneath her skin with that left bone-flap not being there even the slightest or tiniest fall could be extremely dangerous for Kaylee." 

While Kaylee has struggled with short term memory and struggles to retain new information, her parents have been able to start having "more in depth conversations with her." 

The family has since raised over $400,000 to help pay for Kaylee's treatments. 

Following the beating, 15-year-old Maurnice DeClue was taken into custody and subsequently charged with felony assault. She is expected to appear in court in late April.  

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said that the DeClue showed a "complete disregard for human life," suggesting she should be tried as an adult. Gain was in the hospital in critical condition for weeks after the incident.  

Others who know DeClue have suggested that she was acting in self-defense and have used the caption #FreeMarunice to express support for the 15-year-old.