The parents of 7-year-old Dalilah Coleman spoke out Wednesday after their daughter was honored during President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, sharing details of her recovery and their push for Congress to pass legislation in her name.
“It meant a lot to us, the fact that we were able to have Dalilah’s story heard, especially by the president, and get this initiative moved forward,” said Dalilah’s father, Marcus Coleman.
Dalilah was critically injured at age 5 when an 18-wheel tractor-trailer traveling at least 60 mph slammed into the vehicle she was riding in. The crash left her with a fractured skull, a broken femur and a traumatic brain injury.
Trump said the driver of the tractor-trailer was in the country illegally.
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Now a first-grader, Dalilah is relearning how to walk and continues to rely on a feeding tube as she recovers.
“It’s definitely a learning curve for us,” Coleman said of his daughter’s recovery.
“She has to sit there and eat foods that we kind of assume that she’s going to like. She hates the feeding tube…”
“Just like a regular day-to-day thing is something definitely new for her to experience all over again,” he added.
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As of Wednesday, the family remained in Washington, D.C., working to build congressional support for what Trump called the “Dalilah Law.”
The proposal, outlined by the president during Tuesday’s address, would bar states from granting commercial driver’s licenses to people in the country illegally.
“We’re trying to get this law into Congress just to protect the future kids that are out there and just Americans all around,” Marcus told “Fox & Friends.”
Dalilah’s mother, Ileana Krause, said the family hopes lawmakers will act to protect children like her daughter.
“I think it’s very important. We’re hoping that we can get something moving forward,” she said.
