Ava Guidas, a Mosley High School athlete, faced a life-changing accident on July 17, 2025, leaving her with several injuries.
A 14-year-old freshman at Mosley High School in Panama City Beach, Florida, Ava Guidas, was all set for a big year of volleyball, basketball, and softball.
Known for her charms, including her red hair and freckles, Ava was riding an ATV with two friends near a dried-up pond that very day.
The group was having fun, driving side by side, but little did they know what was coming their way. Ava turned the vehicle too sharply and flipped, pinning her underneath.
The crash left Ava with serious injuries, i.e., a traumatic brain injury, a skull fracture, encephalopathy, blood loss, a hemorrhage, and broken bones around her eye.
She was rushed to Pensacola Children’s Hospital. Given her injuries, everyone was praying for her.
Her parents, Stacy and Thomas Guidas, stayed by her side as their middle child of seven battled through surgeries and critical care.
After weeks in critical condition, Ava woke up after 34 days. In fact, she was strong enough to move to a rehabilitation hospital in Jacksonville to continue her recovery.
One night, while sitting with her dad, she said something that stuck with everyone. She said:
Dad, I hate this happened to me, but if it brought our family closer to each other and closer to God, I’m okay with it being me.
Ava Guidas
Stacy has been sharing updates about Ava’s journey on Facebook since the day of her accident.
In one post, she wrote about thanking God for answering her prayers that terrifying night, writing:
I kept praying, ‘Please, God, save her, no matter what we have to face.’ He didn’t just save her; He’s restoring her.
Doctors later discovered a brain aneurysm, but it’s now under control.
Ava’s mom, Stacy, says it’s still a long road ahead, but the family has great news: Ava is going home to Panama City Beach this week.
A GoFundMe, organized by Bunny Franklin, is helping the Guidas family cover medical bills, rehabilitation costs, travel expenses, and meals.
Ava, a beloved volleyball, basketball, and softball player at Mosley High School, won’t be on the field this year, but her courage is inspiring everyone.
