A night for Samantha Eisenberg

Robert Dachille phoned Mike Panagatos for advice with days left until his fundraiser dinner for Samantha Eisenberg and her family. Only half the tickets were sold, but Panagatos reminded his longtime friend that people often wait until the last minute to buy tickets.
   
He was right. Nearly 120 people ended up at the fundraiser dinner hosted at La Novella Ristorante of East Meadow on Monday night.
   
Robert and his wife, Darlene Dachille, are friends with Eisenberg's mother, Robin Boyajian. Eisenberg, who turned 21 last week, remains in Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan as she recovers from serious injuries sustained in an automobile accident in upstate New York on Feb. 12. The East Meadow High School alumna was in a coma, and when she progressed, she was transferred from a Rochester hospital to New York. Samantha is now speaking again, and is slowly regaining strength in her limbs after suffering from serious brain injuries and a broken pelvis.
   
Ironically, Mount Sinai is where she was born. Samantha’s brother, Jonathan Eisenberg, stood by her side everyday as she fought through her coma.
   
"The fact she came to the same hospital she was born in is something you can't really explain," he said. "After all that, to have her respond to you, to talk to you, there is no other feeling like it in the world."
   
He was impressed at the turnout on Monday night, which was attended by friends, family, and others who came out to support the cause. Proceeds from the event were donated to help Samantha's family as they encounter a litany of expenses throughout the ordeal.
   
"It's pretty awesome to see people I haven't seen in years, and some people I don't even know," Jonathan Eisenberg said.
   
As for Samantha's mother, "I immediately started crying," Boyajian said. She has maintained an online journal at caringbridge.org to update people on her daughter's condition.