Horrific footage has been released of a 15-year-old girl who was left lying in a twisted heap after being hit by a pizza delivery driver and thrown 30 feet through the air.
The footage, which was shared by the girl's mum, Elaina Jones, shows Lakyn Stroder using a pedestrian crossing while walking to the beach with her friends in Okaloosa Island, Florida last year.
Lakyn was crossing the road when she was thrown 30 feet through the air by a car reportedly travelling at 40mph. The distressing footage shared by mum Elaina Jones shows Lakyn lying in agony with a broken leg and tailbone, as well as trauma to her internal organs.
The incident happened on March 24 last year, just a day after Laykn celebrated her 15th birthday. Mum Elaina, 35, arrived minutes after the "terrifying" accident to see her daughter lying with a broken leg "flipped" undeath her.
In shock, Laykn asked if it was "real life".
But the health woes didn't end there. While being transferred between multiple hospitals, Laykn suffered a stroke - leaving her unable to walk, speak, write or even read.
A year on from the horror crash, her "proud" mum is hopeful for the future as Lakyn has regained her ability to walk, even passing her driving test and taking part in pageants.
Elaina, from Magnolia, Arkansas, explained: "We took a trip to Okaloosa Island in Florida for her birthday. The day after, her and five of her friends were headed to the beach.
"While they were crossing the crosswalk, she was the last to cross and she got hit by a pizza delivery driver. I'd just laid down to take a nap and I was almost asleep and her friend called me.
"I almost didn't answer the phone. When I answered it her friend said, 'Lak's got hit by a car'.
"I just said, 'what?'. The panic and the fear in her voice, I knew it was serious.
"They'd only just left the condo so I got there about four minutes after she was hit. On the scene, she was talking to me. Her leg was flipped up underneath her.
"She kept saying 'Momma, is this real, is this real life?' It was really terrifying. She ended up with a lot of internal injuries.
"Her left femur was broken, her lungs were bruised, her kidneys were bruised, she had a grade three liver laceration, her tailbone was broken. It was traumatic, but at that point I just thought it was her leg that was broken."
Following the accident, Lakyn was taken to HCA Florida Forth Walton-Destin Hospital. Just days later she was flown to the Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola hospital where she stayed for two weeks.
But while she was on the plane travelling between the hospitals, Lakyn suffered a stroke.
Her mum, who also works as a nurse, said: "In between the first and the second hospital she had the stroke They'd given her some pain medicine and she was very out of it.
"There was a twitch in her arm and she wasn't moving her right side at all. We got to the second hospital and they sent us up to the paediatric ICU where we were waiting to have her legs checked.
"After they fixed her leg, they did an MRI on her and that's when they found out she'd had a stroke. She had what they call a cartoid artery dissection from getting hit so hard that she ended up having a stroke."
Lakyn was given a 95 per cent chance by doctors of never speaking or walking again.
A year later, Lakyn still struggles with writing, reading and speaking, and struggles with her mental health - feeling "trapped" as a result of her difficulties communicating.
"Her hand and speech will take the longest to come back", explained Elaina. "She can't read, she can only pick out certain words, so for school everything is read to her.
"She has something called expressive aphasia and receptive aphasia so her brain knows what it wants to say but it won't let her say it. We've been doing lots of therapy, and I'd say she's maybe got 30% [of her speech] back now.
"In a conversation, it's usually like one word from her, but cognitively she's all there. She's 100% a 16-year-old girl that's trapped in a body that she can't use to communicate.
"It's hard to watch her because inside she's a normal 16-year-old. She's lost several friends because she can't communicate like she did before.
"She's very depressed, she's very angry. But she's made tremendous progress and she's alive.
"She passed her driving test. We went to a place for people with learning disabilities. They read it to her, and she passed.
"She loves to do her pageants as long as she doesn't require interviews. She's far surpassed every expectation they'd set for her."
Elaine is hoping sharing her daughter's story she will encourage both drivers and pedestrians to be more aware of their surroundings.
"I want drivers to be aware of their surroundings. I also think we need to be teaching our kids that the driver isn't just going to stop. You don't just walk out into the road and think 'they won't hit me' because they will.
"I also want to encourage others to treat people with respect, just because they may have a disability or defect. They're still cognitively aware and know what's going on."
