The horrific accident that took Janae Edmondson's legs changed her life − but not her spirit

SMYRNA − Janae Edmondson's emerald green dress shined under the lights of Murfreesboro's Fountains of Gateway venue, where the Smyrna High prom was held in late April.

It was a change from the purple she so frequently has donned, along with many others in her honor.

Her curly hair was uncharacteristically straight and her makeup was just right.

"I looked sharp," she said.

Her boyfriend, Tucker Moore, was by her side in his purple vest and emerald bowtie. He's been by her side a lot lately.

As if the night couldn't get better, Edmondson was named prom queen, a fitting tribute to someone who has stolen the hearts of her community and beyond.

As Edmondson tells it, she doesn't remember a single song that played or she danced to that night, but it didn't matter. The 17-year-old's first prom was a dream, the pinnacle of her final weeks of high school.

But this wasn't an ordinary prom for Edmondson, and the past three months haven't been, either.

Edmondson had just finished playing in a club volleyball tournament in St. Louis on Feb. 18 and was walking toward a car with her parents when, according to a police report, a vehicle failed to yield, hitting another vehicle and struck the two-sport athlete, severing one of her legs at the scene and forcing the other to be amputated.

The injuries were nearly fatal, and the fallout was devastating.

If the story ended there, it might have ended a tragedy. But that's not how Edmondson let it play out. She carried out her senior year like you'd expect: by attending athletic events, hanging out with her boyfriend, graduating high school and enjoying the little things in life as she prepares for college at MTSU.

Especially prom.

She did all her dancing from a wheelchair.

"On Feb. 18, we didn't know if she would have that (prom) day," said her mother, Francine Edmondson, "so it was so important."

'We were losing her'

It was a busy weekend for Janae, having played with the Smyrna basketball team during a district tournament game on Friday night. The family drove to St. Louis overnight to get her to the volleyball tournament on Saturday afternoon.

"It went great. I played great," Janae said.

Francine and her husband, James, said it was the best they had seen their daughter play.

It was a typical chilly February night when the three left the tournament at America's Center. Janae had a blanket draped over the volleyball uniform and backpack she was wearing.

They were just a few feet away from their Nissan Rogue when disaster struck.

Janae was pinned between the car that struck her and a parked car. Her left leg was instantly severed and her right leg was destroyed from calf muscle down.

James and Francine went into survival mode.

"It was more than a shock...it all happened in a blink of an eye, and it was just complete chaos," James said. "To see our daughter on the ground, leg completely severed, we both knew she was in deep trouble."

James went from "daddy mode to military mode," thanks to extensive training he received on how to deal with catastrophic injuries while in the Army, stationed overseas during the 1980s.

"Every time she would scream that she couldn't feel her legs, we could feel that we were losing her," he said. "I knew we didn't have minutes, but seconds."

It was the blanket that Janae was wearing that was first used to try to stop the bleeding. James then procured a belt from a bystander and tied the left leg.

During the fight to save their daughter's life, James and Francine received help from a stranger, Jerrod Anderson, who is a doctor.

A general practitioner from Arkansas whose daughter was also playing in the volleyball tournament, Anderson started checking vital signs and helped keep Janae awake and from bleeding out until paramedics arrived.

"We were about a block away," Anderson said. "We heard a loud bang and started hearing people screaming. When I got there, Janae was on the ground and (James) had a (blanket) around her leg as tight as he could. (Francine) was holding her head up.

"They did great. They really held their composure. I'm medically trained and have been around trauma. Just seeing how calm they were was impressive to me. I'm amazed at how they were able to focus on Janae and help her in those moments."

Francine could see Janae slipping out of consciousness. She wasn't going to let that happen. She screamed at her daughter to keep her eyes open. Janae listened, all the way to the hospital. It likely saved her life.

'Why me?'

Janae was in surgery for most of the night after arriving at St. Louis University Hospital. Along with the loss of her legs and a crushed pelvis, she had injuries to her kidneys, spleen and liver, among others. She had a total of seven surgeries in the first 13 days.

"They wouldn't let us ride with her (in the ambulance) ... they thought she wouldn't survive," Francine said.

As chaotic as the scene was, James and Francine had to start notifying family, which was difficult with the rapid spread of news.

They didn't have to break it to Janae. She already knew. Barely conscious, Janae realized the severity of the accident at the scene.

"When mom said, 'Don't get up, don't move,'" Janae said that's when she realized her legs were gone.

One question has circulated in her thoughts since: "Why me," Janae said, struggling to hold back tears.

"It's just tough for her to think about it," James interjected. "And it's hard for us to ask that question, because we don't have an answer either."

What if it hadn't been her? They all know "what-ifs" won't change what happened.

"I had a lot of 'Why not me instead of her?'" Francine said. "If it had been one of us, we probably would have died. (Janae's sister) Jaylah said, 'How would Janae have ever lived with that?'"

Acceptance, recovery

After spending weeks in intensive care in St. Louis and then in Nashville, Janae returned to school in April. That was the beginning of adjusting to the new normal.

The Edmondson household now has handicap-accessible ramps, one of many renovations since she returned home.

Janae sometimes downplays how monumentally her life has changed. When asked about the biggest adjustment, she replied, "Just waiting on people to get my (wheel)chair."

"You seen these door frames?" Janae said, pointing to scuffs and scratches made while navigating the house.

Scuffs aside, her transition to a wheelchair has been remarkable. She made it up 16 stairs to her bedroom the first day she returned home and has learned how to pop wheelies. She sleeps in her parents' bedroom downstairs with her mom. James transferred to the bedroom upstairs.

Janae does rehabilitation therapy at home every day. That involves mostly upper body work with weights and working out the parts of her legs that remain. It's to help her transition to prosthetics, which should happen in the next three months or so.

"The exercises are easy," said Janae, who recently added an exercise where she uses bands to put resistance on her upper legs to strengthen them. "But probably the one thing that's difficult is getting in and out of my chair ... just having to slide onto the floor, putting pressure on my legs, then having to get help back into my chair."

Watching her go through rehab, you can see she handles those chores with relative ease, though. Being an athlete all her life has helped.

A bright, but different, future

Janae has already gotten back some sense of normalcy. Going back to school for a few hours a day and attending extracurricular activities have helped. She was welcomed back with a ceremony at Smyrna High on April 5, a day before she began attending classes again.

She graduated high school May 13 at Middle Tennessee State University's Murphy Center. She received the loudest ovation of the ceremony when her name was called and she wheeled across the stage to get her diploma.

"I was excited ... really excited," Janae said. "(After the ovation), man, I was just smiling."

During a speech to the graduates, Smyrna Principal Sherri Southerland called her out, saying, "Janae, one of our graduates is the embodiment of heroism. Her courage and bravery are an inspiration to us all. Another example and reminder to always move forward, never quit and to always believe in yourself. I can say that she is my hero.”

Janae is excited about what her future holds, including majoring in physical therapy at MTSU, something she was interested in even before the accident.

But she's still in a major transition phase. She's still learning how to adjust to life in a wheelchair before learning to adjust to life with prosthetic legs.

She still has the awkwardness of people staring at her in public, the humility of the attention she has gotten, and the realization there are things she may never do again, or at least in the capacity she was accustomed.

There are few places Janae can go where people don't know her. Her story was national news. But with that has come an outpouring of support.

A GoFundMe account, which was set up for the family immediately after the accident, raised more than $800,000. Famous musicians have reached out about doing benefit concerts. Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank stepped up and gave the family four tickets in the owner's suite to a recent Taylor Swift concert at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

"It's not embarrassing, but no (I don't want anyone feeling sorry for me)," Janae said of the attention.

Janae appreciates the little things in life more today than she did before Feb. 18. Things like enjoying a sunny morning, playing with her dog and being with the ones closest to her.

One of those closest to her is Moore, her boyfriend, who has been by her side throughout the ordeal.

"Where do I even begin?" said Janae, discussing a topic that sparks a wide smile. "He's been very supportive."

The family has stayed in touch with Anderson, who traveled from Arkansas to see Janae graduate. He even attended the family's graduation party.

There's still a long way to go. Janae just had another surgery to help her legs heal.

But she is moving on and thriving. She is excited about starting college in the fall at MTSU, where she will serve as a manager for the volleyball team. She also hopes to compete as a volleyball player again, whether it's with prosthetic legs or "sitting volleyball," something the family has researched.

"For me, it's just acceptance ... knowing that it happened, but she's still with us," James said. "To be here now, I feel somewhat grounded. I know she's got the ability to be somebody, still pursue her dreams, and the ability to be a normal kid, with some alterations. She can still get married, have kids. With me knowing that, I'm at peace, you can say."

"I'm much better," Janae added. "It's getting better every day."

This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: How Janae Edmondson recalls the horrific accident that took her legs