Skye Cotler suffered a stroke on Aug. 16 while traveling in a car with her friends and family to a Maroon 5 concert in Atlantic City.
NEW BRUNSWICK -- If she can stay in school, Skye Cotler will be OK.
The Rutgers University cheerleader, who suffered a stroke over the summer, is on the mend and attending classes -- thanks in large part to her family and the college community.
"Everyone has been so supportive," said Cotler, 19, a Scarlett Knight flyer who traveled with the team. "I didn't want all the attention, but it's crazy how many people have left messages and helped. I'm humbled and grateful."
Cotler, a Barnegat resident, suffered a stroke on Aug. 16 while traveling in a car with her friends and family to a Maroon 5 concert in Atlantic City. Her mother, Laura Thompson, said the medical condition -- rare for a teenager -- has left her daughter unable to continue as a cheerleader.
"Her whole identity has been stripped," Thompson said last week. "Being a college student is what she has to focus on now."
Thompson, a single mother of three daughters and a son, set up a GoFundMe account in her daughter's name to help with bills and college tuition.
As of Tuesday, donors had pitched in more than $7,100.
Cotler said she has been focused on her classes, hoping to earn bachelor degrees in psychology and criminology. The dual major hopes to attend graduate school as well.
Doctors are unsure why Cotler - an athletic woman in otherwise good health - suffered the stroke and brain hemorrhage. The medical condition is known as a cavernoma, a vascular abnormality in the brain.
After what her mother described as weeks of chaos, Cotler returned to Rutgers in New Brunswick in the beginning of the semester, moving into housing on College Avenue and attending classes.
In addition to her studies, the teenager has regular visits with doctors who monitor her medical condition closely.
"She'll be all right," Laura Thompson said. "As long as she can go to college, she'll be all right."
Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.