After her car rolled over into a ravine, one woman survived for a week without food or water but lost her legs. INSIDE EDITION has her incredible journey as she learns to walk again.
They were messages of desperation written by a woman whose legs were crushed in the bleakest hours of her life.
The messages were scrawled across her red and white umbrella, saying "Need Dr! Hurt & bleeding, “Please help me, can't get doors open," and, “Thirsty and hungry, 6 days no food or water.”
Kristin Hopkins found herself in a hopeless situation after her car rolled 180 feet down an embankment in Denver.
She told INSIDE EDITION, “The windows were all smashed the car was upside down. I knew my ankles were in trouble, my feet were in trouble, because the color of them."
The single mother of four was stranded in her car for six long and terrifying days without food or water. But she never gave up.
She said, “I never had a bad thought. The main thing was I need to get my kids. I needed to see my kids again.”
Then, a miracle. A couple spotted her car. They said, “She said,'She's alive.' And I started crying."
Kristin said, “They are my angels.”
That was four months ago. Kristin's legs had to be amputated. Now, she is prepared to learn how to walk again.
Her parents anxiously await her first steps on her prosthetic legs.
Kristin’s father said, “Nervous, nervous, I know she is really looking forward to this."
First, Kristin was fitted with her new right leg. Its gel-filled liner will help distribute the pressure of the prosthetic.
With the help of a walker, Kristin struggled to stand on her new leg.
It was a bumpy start and emotionally draining, but, what a difference a week makes. Kristin is now walking on two new prosthetic legs and looking strong. She speeded through an obstacle course and practiced how to maintain her balance.
The determined mom also learned how to get up from a sitting position. It's remarkable progress.
She said, “It feels really good. I survived. I did what I needed to do."
A strong-willed survivor who leaves no doubt she can indeed stand on her own.
