Model Lauren Scruggs Responsive and Speaking After Propeller Accident, Say Parents

Fashion model and online blogger Lauren Scruggs, 23, is responsive and making a slow recovery according to a statement made by her parents Tuesday. Scruggs, from Plano, Texas, suffered severe injuries to her face, shoulder and left hand, after accidentally walking into a spinning airplane propeller late Saturday.

Yesterday was a good day, there was a lot of really positive progress, Jeff Scruggs, Lauren's father, said on Good Morning America Tuesday. They took out her tube in the afternoon. She didn't speak right away ... I said Lauren will you say 'hi' to Daddy, and she goes, 'hi.' Later she told one of Cheryl's sisters that she loves her. It's so encouraging to us. She's really uncomfortable as you can imagine.

When asked if she could hear her father's voice, Scruggs responded by squeezing his hand. Her parents told Good Morning America that Scruggs opened her eyes and began speaking Monday afternoon. When asked her name, she replied, Lauren.

Scruggs was returning from a flight to see the Christmas lights across her state when she climbed out of the two-seater plane at Aero County Airport in McKinney, Texas late Saturday. The 23-year old accidentally walked directly into the small plane's propeller and the blade sliced the left side of her face and shoulder and severed her left hand. She was immediately taken by Care flight helicopter to Parkland Hospital in Dallas.

Following multiple surgeries over the weekend, Scruggs' face and shoulder have been reconstructed, but surgeons were forced to amputate her hand. Although she is in stable condition, Scruggs remains in the intensive care unit and doctors are still unsure of how the hit affected her brain function.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the incident and investigators remain unsure of how Scruggs could have walked into the plane propeller. Good Morning America posits that she perhaps turned around to thank the pilot when she was accidentally hit by the propellers.

It was a really horrible accident, Jeff Sruggs said on GMA. I've been told she got out of the plane afterwards. And I'm guessing she went up to thank the pilot. She would have been grateful for him taking her up to see the Christmas lights around Dallas.

Scruggs is the Editor-in-Chief for an online fashion magazine, Lolo Magazine. She has worked as a part-time model and in the wardrobe department of the CW television Show, Gossip Girl. She recently interviewed Twilight star Kellan Lutz for New York Fashion Week.

They're telling us it's going to be a long recovery, Jeff Scruggs told GMA. Obviously she's had a lot of trauma to her head, and she lost her left hand and her left eye is questionable. We're praying she'll regain her sight.

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