Cards and stuffed animals line Raelyn Janssen’s hospital room. It’s a cheerful reflection of how the young women is coping on the inside, following a life-altering injury.
The hospital room is where she’s spent the last month after a collision in which she lost both her lower legs and broke her arm.
The 23-year-old works in landscaping. She was out on a regular job in St. Albert at the end of October, standing behind her work trailer on a residential street.
The next thing she knew, she woke up in an Edmonton hospital covered in cords and surrounded by medical equipment.
She had no clue why she was there.
“I was blacked out for a good two and a half, three days, that’s all I remember. Everything else, people have told me about what happened,” said Janssen.
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RCMP said on Wednesday, Oct. 29, a SUV was traveling west on Oakridge Drive at Outlook Place. The SUV hit the parked landscaping trailer, resulting in Janssen being struck and pinned.
“I didn’t know an SUV came and hit me, I was told that.
“The impact of the SUV hitting me is what severed my legs — the doctors did not perform any amputations.”
St. Albert RCMP say the investigation into the collision is still ongoing but as of publishing, no charges have been laid.
Janssen was airlifted to the University of Alberta Hospital by STARS air ambulance in critical condition. Since then, she has undergone numerous surgeries.
Not knowing exactly what happened isn’t consuming the young woman, but there are some questions that linger in the back of her mind.
“How do you hit me? We’re in a parking lane, no one understands how that could’ve happened.”
Janssen says she may learn more in the future, but it’s not pressing.
“It is what it is — you can’t change it.”
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She says her pain is slowly getting better, but one of the hardest parts is the phantom pain.
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“My brain understands I don’t have legs, but there’s a part of my brain that controls the nerves, that doesn’t understand it. I try to touch them and say there’s nothing there,” she says.
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After spending nearly a month in hospital, Janssen is adapting to her new normal. She has friends and family who stop by and her parents have come to visit her nearly every day.
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Janssen is a bodybuilder and has started working out from her hospital room.
The arm she broke can only lift two-pound weights, but for the other she is trying to keep up a normal routine.
“More independence is really nice. Not having to rely on other people constantly, which I had to do for a long time for my first few weeks here,” said the 23-year-old.
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“I’m trying to adjust to what my new life will be like eventually.”
Janssen says staying positive is one of her biggest priorities.
“I’ve been told, ‘I wouldn’t be able to be in your position and just be OK with it,’” she said.
“I never had an issue with not having my legs, just accepted it for what it is because I can still do everything that I wanted to do and was going to do — it’ll just be some slight adjustments.”
It especially makes a difference for her loved ones.
“Definitely a work in progress, cause their baby girl lost their legs,” Janssen said of her parents. “I’m probably doing the best out of everyone, but I know everyone’s gonna be very much OK eventually.”
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Janssen’s gym, The Den Fitness, has been supporting her since the accident, having launched a GoFundMe to help her during this time. The gym’s general manager says they’ve seen an outpouring of support.
“It just kinda really drives a hard nail into the support we already have with our community. It reaffirms everything we’re trying to do here,” said Ryan Cardinal, general manager of The Den Fitness.
“I can’t wait to see her back, because she talks about it a lot, about coming back to the gym and getting back to working out. All the positivity is just incredible.”
The 23-year-old has been posting her journey to social media. Some of her videos have garnered millions of views. She says thousands of people have reached out expressing their admiration.
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“I didn’t think that many people would want to support or care about me or give their money to me to help my future. I don’t even have words. I’m very grateful,” said Janssen.
While she navigates her new normal, it keeps her going.
“That’s a really good feeling that I’m not just stuck in a hospital feeling helpless, I am helping and making a difference in the best way I can, the most I can.”
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