Family donates mangled car

While Tyler Maas-Schlie continues to battle for his life, the teen’s family is taking proactive measures to make sure this tragedy doesn’t happen to another family.
Lillian Katzung, who is Maas-Schlie’s mother, said the family has donated the mangled wreckage of what once was a vehicle to the Dodge County Toward Zero Deaths (TZD) coalition, which will use it to educate the public about the dangers of distracted driving. Besides Dodge County where Maas-Schlie was critically injured, Katzung expects the vehicle will circulate in Steele County as well as other counties throughout the region. The family lives in Owatonna.
TZD is a national strategy on highway safety to advocate for eliminating serious injuries and deaths on roadways. The strategy calls for all stakeholders to champion the idea that one death is too many, and everyone must work together to bring the annual number of deaths down to zero.
Since the crash in southern Dodge County on Nov. 29, Katzung has seen some of the social media posts where teenagers have commented that “we’ve driven distracted and nothing has happened to us.” She wants to use her son’s tragedy to shed light on distracted driving.
“These kids need to see the traumatic stuff going on because it could be them,” Katzung said, adding it’s not fair to other drivers on the road to operate in a distracted manner.
Katzung went to see the mangled vehicle late last week and picked up her son’s personal belongings. “It was very emotional seeing the damage to not only his car, but the other vehicle involved,” she said.
She would not elaborate on what happened in her son’s crash pending the outcome of the investigation by Dodge County Sheriff’s Office and the State Patrol. “We have more questions than answers right now,” she said.
What Katzung does know is that her son crashed into an on-coming vehicle as he was traveling to Kasson to hang out with some friends. She said he was in the process of switching from Owatonna High School where he is a senior to Kasson-Mantorville High School, though it had not happened yet.
Katzung also wanted to clarify a previous report about her son’s involvement in trap shooting. He has been involved in the sport since seventh grade.
A friend of the family established a GoFundMe account to raise money to help with medical bills, which Katzung described as “going to be astronomical.” While she appreciates people donating to the fund, she is also using it to post daily updates on her son’s condition.
Maas-Schlie, who hasn’t regained consciousness since the crash, has had 142 staples put in his head, Katzung said. He was scheduled for a major surgery on Monday to repair his right hip.
While he has not woken up yet, he has improved physically, and Katzung said she is taking that as a “teeny tiny victory.” She said her son is a fighter. 
“He is very, very critical. He needs lots of rest and lots of healing,” Katzung said.
Katzung said she has been switching off with Maas-Schlie’s father so that someone is always with him at the hospital. She said her employer, Jostens, in Owatonna has been accommodating with her work schedule to allow her to be with him.
“We have an amazing support group out there and that has been beneficial,” Katzung said. “We love and appreciate you all.”