Marblehead family prepares for next chapter

MARBLEHEAD – There?s no question Ed and Jeannie Rombach are in for the fight of their lives. What makes it even harder for them is that the fight isn?t really about them. They?re just the ones who have to do the fighting.Last December, their younger daughter, Chloe, 22, had set out on the 10-minute walk from her apartment in Northampton to her job as a yoga instructor.?It was pouring rain,” said family friend Amy Gray, “and it was pitch dark. Her clothes were soaking wet, which made them even darker.”What happened next was, said Gray, “catastrophic.”Chloe Rombach was struck by a car and dragged 150 feet. It took a team of firefighters to free her. Today, through a complicated cranial operation to relieve the pressure of her brain, and other setbacks and illnesses, she remains at Mass. General Hospital, still in a coma, and badly in need of facilities suitable for her long-term care.?It is so tragic,” said Gray, who organized Wednesday night?s fundraiser at the Spirit of ?76 Bookstore, where 20 percent of all purchases went toward the mounting expenses the Rombach?s must incur to keep their home, and to make it conducive for their daughter to come home.?She is a beautiful girl who has the singing voice of an angel,” Gray said. “She is just a bright, shining light.”The Rombachs have juggled coming to terms with the tragedy and trying to deal with the enormous amount of logistical and bureaucratic issues that arise out of such a tragedy. Those tasks range from trying to find short-term rehabilitative care until their house is ready to accommodate their daughter?s needs (a situation that was not helped by Spaulding Rehab in Salem?s announcement that it was closing); finding a contractor to begin work on expanding their house; and dealing with Social Security in order to get disability money (on which U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton?s office has taken the lead).Through it all, Ed Rombach said the help of friends such as the Grays has seen them through.?Honestly,” he said, “when it happened, it felt like I?d been pushed off the tallest building, and I was free-falling toward my death.?But I have to say there so many good people in this town, and elsewhere ? family, friends, and people we don?t even know,” he said. “That stopped my free-fall.”Right now, though, “we?re getting through, one day – maybe even one hour – at a time. We need to get her home,” Jeannie Rombach said.She has bonded with a family member of Ben Farrar, the Marblehead High graduate who, this past spring, was injured in a diving accident in France.?We get together, even if it?s just to play a game, or doing something with our minds, to get away from this,” she said.?That (hearing about Farrar) hit too close to the bone,” Ed Rombach said. “It left me wondering whether there?s an epidemic of young people from this town who are having these horrendous accidents.”The Rombachs have another daughter, A.J., who is 26, and who co-founded an art gallery in Philadelphia called Fjord.The Rombachs need a total of $226,000 for the various expenses they face, and $112,567 is for the mortgage on their home.?That?s our No. 1 goal,” Gray said. “They need to have a roof over their heads.” There?s also a $38,372 equity loan and an estimated $75,000 for repairs and improvements on their home and basement to make it safe and wheelchair-accessible for Chloe.The name of the fund is the Casa Rombach Foundation, and information can be obtained on the family?s CaringBridge website.