A witness said Kathleen Mason "spun" in the air when the truck hit her.

It was Dec. 12, 2006, and Ms. Mason, who doesn't drive, had decided to walk from her Greenfield home to the Waterfront in Homestead to buy Christmas presents for her two daughters.

A construction barrier blocked access to the Homestead Grays Bridge's pedestrian walkway, so she tried to cross Browns Hill Road, according to a legal complaint filed this year by her lawyers.

A 1987 Dodge Ram truck then struck her right side.

"I don't remember anything about that day," she said. "I'm glad I don't remember."

Paramedics took Ms. Mason to UPMC Mercy, where she spent five days in a coma. Her injuries were extensive, including brain trauma, frequent seizures and memory loss.

Yet Ms. Mason, 33, considers herself incredibly blessed. She survived the accident, and her family and friends from church have helped her recover and care for her children: Shyana, 8, and Tasia, 10.

"God didn't have to let me live, and he did," she said. "I'm grateful."

A graduate of Allderdice High School, Ms. Mason studied nutrition through Thompson Education Direct correspondence courses. And she earned money as a child care provider, living and working in her parents' home. It was a job that let her care for her own daughters at the same time.

She also struggled after her high school years. She was hospitalized with an eating disorder, and her daughters' father had little involvement in their lives, she said.

After the accident, Ms. Mason's older sister watched the girls. Her parents also helped, although they face their own financial limits. Her mother works at a Rite Aid and as a school crossing guard, while her father is unable to work because of back injuries.

Without her own regular source of income, Ms. Mason sometimes depends on local food banks and her church, Lamb of God Christian Ministries in Homestead, where congregants occasionally give her clothes and money.

This year has brought new setbacks. In the spring, a man took her ATM card and withdrew more than $500 from her bank account. He is gradually trying to repay her, she said.

She still suffers "gaps" in her memory since the accident.

"Sometimes I forget people who I would have remembered," she said. "If I don't remember, then I feel really bad."

Ms. Mason also has some reasons to be optimistic.

Her daughters are doing well at Greenfield Elementary School. She has recovered enough balance to start running again, and she recently found a job at the YMCA branch in Hazelwood, where she helps look after children.

Her long-term goal is to save money and find her own place to live. She then hopes to resume her own child care business.

This Christmas, Ms. Mason's family will get a boost from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Goodfellows Toy Fund, whose mission is to ensure that needy children have Christmas toys.

Goodfellows works with the Marine Corps Toys for Tots program and numerous local agencies, including the Hazelwood YMCA, to distribute toys to thousands of needy children across Western Pennsylvania.

With the economy struggling, the need this year will be greater than ever. Please help this worthy effort.

You can make a tax-deductible contribution to Goodfellows by using the coupon on this page or online at www.post-gazette.com/goodfellows.

Every donation will be acknowledged in the newspaper.