A Dream on Pause, and Second Chances

Hetlerville, Columbia County-- Central Columbia graduate Lauren Harding moved to Nashville nearly a decade ago to pursue her dream as a recording artist.

That dream was put on pause after her mother was critically injured in a devastating crash.

Now, both Lauren and her mother are getting a second chance.

The music bug bit Lauren Harding as a small child-- and she's been singing ever since.

But her world came crashing down in March of 2008, when a teen driver fleeing police caused a three-car wreck.

Lauren's mother, Paula, was ejected from her vehicle.

Shortly after, Lauren received a call from Paula's cell phone.

She remarked, "I just remember answering the phone, and I said, 'Hi, mom.' And it was her best friend. My heart sank to my stomach-- just one of those things where you just know something is up."

Paula Novak suffered severe injuries to her brain and kidneys-- as well as several broken bones-- and ended up in a coma.

Lauren explained, "She flew out and hit the side of a house. It was on Old Berwick Road, very close to home. She was completely unable to breathe on her own. She was pretty much brain dead."

After frantically flying home to Paula's hospital bedside, Lauren kept singing-- a decision doctors say had miraculous results.

Lauren recalled, "They said it seems that when your daughter sings, her brain activity moves. And it doesn't when we talk. I really clung to that, because we were clinging to anything that was positive."

Paula finally awoke from the coma six weeks later-- on Mother's Day.

She noted, "The accident was March 29th, 2008-- but I really don't remember anything from then until I got home. I didn't even know my own house. I had to walk around, get the feel of my home. But now I know."

And now, after several years helping her dad and brother take care of mom-- and a side gig teaching music to young children-- Lauren's heading back to Nashville in the New Year with her own second chance, thanks to her record label.

But first, she and her family want to thank friends and loved ones for all their support-- with one last local performance at the Scoreboard Bar and Grill near Bloomsburg.

Novak said, "I have such a great family and friends. They call and stay in touch with me. They help me. They take me places, because I can't drive. They take me to all my appointments-- good people, yeah."

Lauren continued, "It's really cool to do it at that venue because when she was in a coma, I did a benefit concert there to raise money to help her get to rehab. And she missed that concert. So it's really cool to go back there and do a show again, and see her sitting there."

"The music bug, once you have it, doesn't go away. It just got buried for a little bit. It's time to hit play," she added.

Lauren and some special guests will perform free of charge at the Scoreboard Bar and Grill Saturday night starting at 9PM.

All donations will be split between victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre and the Atlanta-based Shepherd Center-- a hospital specializing in traumatic brain injuries.

For more information, just click here!