UMass Lowell women's lacrosse players, Noelle Lambert & Kelly Moran, were involved in a tragic moped accident in Martha's Vineyard over the weekend. The rising sophomores suffered serious injuries and Noelle Lambert's leg had to be amputated at the scene before being transported to the hospital.
After such tragic news, it was refreshing to read today's Eagle Tribune article by Ray Carbone. Ray spoke to Noelle's mother, Judy Lambert, and provided an update on Noelle's condition. Judy's account about how she heard about the accident was difficult to read.
A half-hour later, Judy Lambert’s phone rang again; it was a woman whose voice she didn’t recognize. "I didn’t know it at the time but she was just a bystander. And she said, your daughter’s been in a bad accident. You need to get here now.
"Then, she put my daughter on the phone," Judy said. "She was apologizing. "And she said, ‘I lost my leg.’ She knew right away."
It was a test that Noelle Lambert been preparing for all her life. Years of athletic competition, years of building strong friendships, years of learning from talented coaches... It all came out in the next few hours. "She hadn’t lost consciousness," said Lambert. "She never lost consciousness."
Up to 40 visitors a day have stopped by to visit Noelle during her hospital stay. Noelle's presently recovering from her second surgery, but is in good spirits and already looking forward to returning to campus this fall.
It’s not clear yet how long Noelle will be at the facility but don’t expect to see her resting much at home in New Hampshire in the coming weeks, Lambert said. "She said she plans on going back to school in the next month. I said, well, maybe in January, but she said, no, no... I think I’ll do it in September."
Judy stated that Noelle is already thinking about playing lacrosse again with a prosthetic leg and that Noelle has already spoken to coaches at UMass Lowell about taking on a player/coach role with the team.