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This story was corrected on Oct. 20, 2009. An explanation of the correction is at the end of the story.

Brittany Jones is expected to return home from the hospital next week following the last major surgery needed for her recovery from an October crash that claimed the life of a Damascus classmate.

Jones will need months of physical, occupational, and speech and language therapy, said her mother, Tammy Stolinski.

The community is rallying behind her and has started a fund to help pay for the therapy, Damascus High School Principal Robert Domergue said.

Jones was riding in the back seat of the car filled with Damascus High School students traveling from a weekly Young Life meeting on Hawkins Creamery Road to Burger King on Main Street. The car left the road, hit a tree and caught fire.

Ryan Didone, 15, died as a result of injuries he suffered in the Oct. 20 crash. Jones suffered head injury that required operations to reduce swelling in her brain and she needed surgery for a fractured left arm.

A bone flap in her skull that was removed after the crash was reattached successfully, Stolinski said.

"Now that the bone has been put back, she's doing much better," Stolinski said. "Her balance is starting to come back."

Jones even took a few steps on her own, she said.

Jones does not remember her Sweet 16 party or anything that occurred three to four weeks before the crash or in the months immediately after the crash, Stolinski said.

Doctors are optimistic that with therapy, Jones will make a full recovery, her mother said. Stolinski hopes her daughter, a sophomore, will return to school in the fall.

Doctors want Jones to complete six therapy sessions a week — two physical, two occupational and two speech and language, Stolinski said. They expect she will need therapy at least through December, she said.

Donations may be sent to the Brittany Jones Medical Fund, c/o Chevy Chase Bank, 26001 Ridge Road, Damascus MD 20872.

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the date of the crash. It was Oct. 20, 2009.