LEXINGTON, Ky. — A community is rallying around a 25-year-old mother from Frankfort involved in a life-altering incident as she prepares to return home.
It’s been months since an evening out for Faith Newsome changed her life unexpectedly and permanently. On May 19, she and another person were involved in a motorcycle crash that critically injured her.
Newsome said the person responsible for the accident was her former boyfriend, Brenden Cummins. Christina Newsome, Faith's mother, said Cummins had history of violence. Faith Newsome said the crash was an act of domestic violence. On the night of the crash, she said she and another man were trying to get away from Cummins on the motorcycle. Cummins, according to the arrest record, was intoxicated, chased them and caused the crash. Cummins has been in the Franklin County Regional Jail since his arrest on May 19, 2024. He is being held on $1 million cash bond.
“I think just sitting in this room, staring at these four walls for three months and I have all the time in the world to think about what happened,” Newsome said.
She says she woke up in the hospital bed to have half of her right leg amputated. It’s been an extremely hard reality to grasp for her and her young kids, she says.
“You know, my kids are scared of me. They’re scared to, you know, be around me. My youngest daughter, she’s three years old. She’s really, really freaked out by my leg. And my oldest son did the same thing, you know, which is to be expected because their mommy just out of nowhere lost her leg,” Newsome said.
While battling serious injuries, health and legal woes, Newsome says she’s no stranger to extreme adversity. In 2022, Newsome lost her son, Bentley Baeza, in a car accident.
“So this really has nothing on the pain that I’ve felt since the passing of my son,” she said. “And that’s one of the main things that stays on my mind, even with, you know, me looking down and seeing half my leg missing, mentally it’s the main thing that stays in the back of my mind.”
She says making her children proud is the biggest reason she’s been able to persevere through multiple surgeries every week for three months, along with major support from close family members.
“My grandfather. He’s been with me most of the time. He’s been here for 60 days, day and night. He sleeps on the couch and he does everything for me,” she shared.
Newsome has several more procedures before her tentative date for when she will be able to leave the hospital. Newsome says to her surprise, people in Frankfort and beyond have rallied behind her in numerous ways, circulating her story and journey toward recovery.
“We had a bike ride and, you know, people selling shirts, people selling bracelets and plenty of communities or plenty of businesses who have done fundraisers for me. And it’s just very humbling, you know, to see all the support. And I don’t feel alone,” she explained.
True to her name, she says she has hope that her situation right now is the beginning of advocacy and help for other women like herself.
“Once I get a prosthetic leg and I’m able to be active again, I definitely want to be a voice because a lot of women go through similar things that I went through. I would definitely love to share my story.”
Preventing another young person from experiencing the same events motivates her to speak up about what she’s going through.
Newsome’s family and friends are collecting donations via shirt and bracelet sales and a GoFundMe that will support her and her family ahead of her recovery journey.