The deals are good for the economy but "should not have to come at the expense of the American consumer, who deserves the right to hold accountable any business that produces a defective product that causes personal injury or harm," he said.
Young is one of those consumers now faced with staggering expenses because of the bankruptcy. Without the possibility of compensation from Chrysler, "I don't have any hope," she said.
Young, who lives on $1,500 a month in Social Security, is forced to ration her treatment to keep the cost to no more than $800 a month. She would like physical therapy but can't afford it.
At the time of the accident, Young, a divorced mother of two daughters, was living with her children in a three-bedroom ranch home in Manteca, south of Stockton.
While she was in the hospital, her mortgage went unpaid. Her elder daughter, Keyona Chester, now 25, who escaped the accident with only cuts and bruises, tried to negotiate with the mortgage company but failed.
Her younger daughter, Kristina Young Sligh, 17, went to live with her father.
After leaving the hospital, Young moved into her mother's East Oakland bungalow, secured from the busy street by a locked metal gate. Her mother, Rose, a bus driver, cares for Young, and her daughters and other relatives take over when Rose is at work.
Young cannot bathe herself or use a toilet. She has learned how to eat with a brace on her hand and can peck at a computer with a pointer.
"I am so used to being so independent, to doing everything myself," said Young, clad in white socks, gray sweat pants and a pink sweat shirt in her mother's tidy living room. "Now I have to depend on others for everything.
"Sometimes I am glad I made it out alive, but to live like this? I feel like a burden."
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maura.dolan@latimes.com
carol.williams@latimes.com
