It has been five long months for three Plano families dealing with unbearable losses.
Samantha Sacks and Lilly Davis, both 16-years-old, died in a fiery crash on Mira Vista Drive in Plano on Feb. 10.
Sixteen-year-old Kendall Murray was severely injured.
She suffered multiple broken and fractured bones, burns on 25 percent of her body and now has little use of her right hand.
Kendall spoke Friday at a celebration for Medical City Plano’s new Level 1 Trauma designation. It’s the first hospital in Collin County with a Level 1 Trauma Center.
It was a celebration with a somber tone.
Five months ago, her parents thought she would still be in the hospital instead of publicly thanking those who helped saved her.
“I wouldn't never believed it. I would've said there’s no way that that's going to be me in five months,” Kendall said.
She was in the backseat of a Porche SUV when the driver lost control, the car crashed into a tree and caught fire.
Bystanders pulled Kendall from the flames.
“I don't remember a few hours before the wreck until I woke up two-and-a-half weeks later,” she said.
But she says she does remember the day she found out what happened to her friends.
“Saint Patrick’s Day - I will never forget that day. I found out about Sam and Lilly, and I found out about all of my injuries,” she said.
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Video recorded by Medical City Plano shows Kendall in various stages of treatment.
The photos of her right after the wreck, she says, are unrecognizable.
“She doesn't look like me. That is easily the weakest and most horrible state I’ve been in,” she said.
Kendall has a long road to recovery ahead. She still has little use of her right hand.
“There's a lot of down, just when I can’t do things when I normally would be able to do I get down on myself,” she said.
Her family, she says, helps lift her up.
And she still thinks of the two friends she lost.
“Everyday. Every second of every day. I have pictures of them everywhere,” she said.
Kendall still goes to therapy three times a week.
She's taking online courses to make up for the school she missed, and she'll join her class at Plano West Senior High School in the fall.
