The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital, Children’s Specialized Hospital and Rutgers Athletics Honor “Miracle” Patient

Volleyball Inspires Hillsborough High School Star Athlete to Return to Court Following Life-threatening Car Accident

(Hillsborough, NJ) - Aileen Xue is an outstanding athlete, student, and musician who had just received a college offer to play volleyball at NYU and an invitation to join the prestigious Taiwanese Under 18 Women's National Volleyball team when a serious car accident in March 2024 threatened to rob her of her dreams.

She suffered a traumatic brain injury as a result of the accident and was airlifted to the Level I Trauma Center at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH) in New Brunswick. She later had several emergency life-saving neurosurgical procedures at The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital (BMSCH) at RWJUH. RWJUH and BMSCH are RWJBarnabas Health facilities.

When she arrived at RWJUH and BMSCH, Aileen was under the expert care of their pediatric hospital medicine, pediatric critical care, neurosurgery, trauma surgery, emergency medicine, and mobile health services teams.

Aileen was placed in a medically induced coma to allow time for the swelling in her brain to subside. Doctors also inserted tubes to support her breathing and feeding. Before her discharge from BMSCH on October 28, 2024, she had undergone a total of six brain surgeries.

Her courage and will to fight inspired doctors and nurses to call Aileen their "miracle patient."

The Hillsborough High School student was honored as the RWJBarnabas Health Shining Knight of the Game during the Rutgers-Penn State women's volleyball match in November. Her mother, Ning Lee, believes that volleyball continues to drive her daughter's recovery.

"It means a lot to all of us that Rutgers Volleyball honored her," Lee said. "Despite everything that has happened, she is still excited about volleyball. It has been therapy for her and she is very motivated to play again."

Before her accident, Aileen had a storied youth volleyball career, capturing team, state, and international honors. These included earning a place on the Skyland Conference Volleyball First Team from 2021-23 and being named 2023 Skyland Conference Player of the Year, 2023 New Jersey Junior Player of the Year, and 2023 Central New Jersey Player of the Year. Her hard work and dedication to her sport led to an invitation to join the 2024 Taiwan Under-18 Women's Volleyball National Team.

Following her discharge from BMSCH, she continued her inpatient physical and occupational therapy at PSE&G Children's Specialized Hospital, also an RWJBarnabas Health facility.

During her challenging rehabilitation, volleyball was never far from Aileen's thoughts as she and her therapists incorporated the sport into her therapy to help her recover. Although Aileen will need more outpatient therapy, she plans to finish high school and return to the volleyball court one day.

"We truly appreciate everything BMSCH and CSH have done for her," Lee said. "They are the best doctors and nurses. We are deeply grateful she can have a new life."

Lee also emphasized, "Through Aileen's suffering, we hope to raise awareness of the dangers of distracted driving, so that no other family needs to go through the hardship we did."

About Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital

Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH) New Brunswick, an RWJBarnabas Health Facility, is a 628-bed academic medical center that is New Jersey's largest academic medical center through its deep partnership with Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. RWJUH is the flagship Cancer Hospital of Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, a nationally-ranked 2024-25 Best Children's Hospital by U.S. News & World Report. Centers of Excellence include cardiovascular care from minimally invasive heart surgery to transplantation, cancer care, stroke care, neuroscience, orthopedics, bariatric surgery and women's health. A Level 1 Trauma Center and the first designated Pediatric Trauma Center in the state, RWJUH's New Brunswick campus serves as a national resource in its ground-breaking approaches to emergency preparedness. Learn more at: www.rwjbh.org/newbrunswick or www.bmsch.org.

Contact: Peter Haigney
RWJUH Public Relations
(732) 937-8568