A North Texas teenager is scheduled to be released from an Oklahoma City hospital just seven days after she survived a death-defying plummet to the ground.
Makenzie Wethington, 16, will be released from the University of Oklahoma Medical Center Friday. She will then get transferred to an inpatient rehabilitation hospital in Dallas-Fort Worth, according to her parents.
The Joshua teen fell approximately 3,500 feet from the sky on Saturday in a skydiving accident in Chickasha, Okla.
Makenzie's father, Joe Wethington, said his daughter's parachute did not fully deploy when she jumped. The owner of the skydiving company, Bob Swainson of Pegasus Air Sports Center, has said there was nothing wrong with the parachute and that he believes Mackenzie did not follow instructions given during her training.
Makenzie suffered broken vertebrae in her back, shattered her pelvis, lacerated her liver and survived several other serious injuries in the fall, according to hospital staff.
Since the fall, Makenzie has gone through great pains just to be able to stand, with the help of nurses. Her mother, Holly Wethington, told NBC DFW a photograph of the teen's first step, taken on Wednesday, was a proud moment.
"She pointed at her phone and said, 'pictures.' So I grabbed her phone. That's where that picture came from. She wanted to see herself. She was just so happy," Holly Wethington said.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
Doctors have told Makenzie she should expect to spend between a minimum of two to three weeks at the rehabalitation hospital as she works toward being able to stand and walk on her own again, family members said.
The teen's road to recovery is also receiving support from her friends and classmates in Joshua. There, students and teachers have shown their support for Wethington by wearing pink colored clothing, organizing a pep rally, and putting together plans to help collect donations in order to offset the medical costs for Wethington's treatment.
