YORK, Pa. — April is Limb Loss Awareness Month, and one York County double amputee is sharing her story to encourage others.
FOX43 was at WellSpan Surgery and Rehabilitation Hospital in York two years after the young woman lost both of her legs in a car crash on Interstate 83.
On April 16, 2022, a drunk driver hit 31-year-old Oni Slocum.
"He had hit my vehicle so hard, it went about half a mile from the initial hit," she said.
Slocum was somehow able to get out of her car to check on the others and call 911 when another driver slammed right into her.
"He struck me and pinned my body between my car and his car," Slocum said. "I remember saying, 'I can't feel my legs, I can't feel my legs' and [my sister] said, 'you don't want to see your legs right now.'"
She even remembers rescue crews responding.
"I remember grabbing one of them and saying, 'please don't let me die,'" Slocum recalled. "I woke up two-and-a-half weeks later. I woke up from a coma at shock trauma hospital."
The mother of a 6-year-old at the time of the crash had lost both of her legs, had seven spinal fractures and couldn't speak. After several surgeries, the hard work began at WellSpan Surgery and Rehabilitation Hospital.
"They get you up right away, they don't let you wait; I mean, the second day of me being here I was already up and ready to start," Slocum joked.
Something as simple as sitting up on her own would now be a challenge.
"Put your mind to something and say, I am going to do it. And just do it day by day," she said. "Don't let those little fears set you back from doing what you want to do daily."
She didn't give up.
"I love going to the gym, and I picked up boxing, which I never thought I'd be into, but now it's like my favorite thing I like to do," she said happily.
Now just two years later, Slocum got to thank the doctors and therapists at WellSpan who helped her heal, sharing her story of hope and proving that there is life even after the greatest of challenges.
"Hang in there... it does get easier.... it does get easier," Slocum shared.