BURBANK : Benefit Walk Set to Aid Accident Victim

Shanna Schulman, a high school student who was blinded and suffered brain damage in an auto accident, can only live for the moment, but her friends and an eyewitness to her accident are trying to give her a happy moment Saturday.

“It’ll make her feel good to take a walk,” said Adelaide Nimitz, who has organized a benefit for Schulman, a 16-year-old John Burroughs High School student. “At the time she is doing it, she will be very happy.”

Shanna was hit by a pickup truck while walking across Olive Avenue near her high school.

“It’s a miracle that she survived,” said Nimitz, who saw Shanna land after being hit.

At least 50 people will walk Saturday at 9:30 a.m. from Community Chevrolet on Olive Avenue to the George Izay Park four blocks away. There will be a drawing for donated prizes, such as a trip to Las Vegas and a day’s work on a movie or television set. A thousand tickets have been sold so far, and the proceeds will be used to help Schulman meet medical expenses, Nimitz said.

Her mother helps her cope, Shanna said.

“If I don’t keep her busy every minute, she’ll start thinking and go into a really deep depression,” said Starr Schulman, an airline flight attendant and movie extra who has not been able to work regularly since the accident. “She sat outside for two hours and sobbed once, saying, ‘I can’t see and I’m frustrated, and I’m not used to being like this.’ ”

For more information on the benefit, call Nimitz at (818) 848-4471.