PENSACOLA, Fla. (WKRG) – Erika Brigman is able to walk again without crutches or assistance after enduring a head-on collision with a drunk driver in July 2023.
Brigman recovered for a year with his North Carolina family before returning to Pensacola last year to finish his recovery.
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Brigman has broken both the talus in his left leg, the tibia in his left leg, the knee, a fracture in his right arm, and the lungs in his lungs. However, when the seatbelt broke his back, there was a great deal of damage to Brigman’s back.
“It slashed me in half and broke my back, not sitting on your waist, just like it shifted,” Brigman recalled.
“If I had been sitting in that hospital bed and told me I would have loved my life a year and a half from now, I wouldn’t believe you,” she added.
Erica Brigman recovers from her injuries. (Commentary of Erica Brigman)
In July 2023, Brigman and her friend Anna Lewis were on their way to lunch along Pine Forest Road. Taking another car, Lewis was ahead of Brigman and first changed the parking lot to safety.
When Brigman went to enter the parking lot, she was hit by another car.
Lewis stayed by his friend’s side as he was rushed to Sacred Heart Hospital. She recalled that one of Brigman’s doctors told her that she would never forget.
“I’ve never seen anything like this. I’ve never seen anyone survived it, like it was cut from the whole inside to the left and right,” Lewis said. “And it really hit me, and I was like, ‘Oh, my well, she might have really died there on the road that day.” ”
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Christie Jandora, director of Sacred Heart Emergency Services, said health professionals rarely witness the long-term recovery of previous patients.
“We’re going to deal with them in the ER now,” Jandra said. “You might see a bit through the rehabilitation process, but you don’t always know how great they are, two years from now, unless you bump into them at the grocery store or somewhere else.”
