GEORGETOWN, Ky. (LEX 18) — 10 years ago, when she was just four years old, Katie Eddington was involved in a lawn mowing accident. She underwent more than 20 surgeries following the accident and eventually lost her right leg.
Now, she’s 14 and says, "I don't remember too much about it, but it was like, really hard on my family obviously and that's kinda how we're so connected now and my aunt's here and my nana's here. So, it's...it's...it was a tough experience but we're here now so."
On this tenth anniversary, Katie and her family wanted to do something different to mark the event that forever changed her life. Katie lost a lot of blood that day, so she wanted to host a blood drive with the Kentucky Blood Center that would help others in the way that she was helped.
Katie says, "It's literally something that I needed, but it's also like literally one unit of blood is a life. So, we thought this was perfect."
There was a time when doctors didn't think that Katie would walk again, but now she runs — marathons and track. Her mom, Samantha Eddington, explains that as a nurse, this journey has been difficult, but she's proud of how far her daughter has come.
She says, "You know, you know, but you're still kind of in denial about it, until you just kind of see that this is what has to happen. So, her amputation was elective and that in and of itself was a challenge. But yeah I mean she's done well.”
Samantha is giving back her own blood. She says after her daughter’s accident, it was hard to accept help from others, but the community has shown up for her and her family all the way.
"It just means a lot. It means that we did make a little bit of a difference and that people see that we tried really hard to make something positive out of it. So, it does, I see the people here,” says Samantha.
Katie started running five months after her amputation. Along the way, she says people have shared how inspired they are. On this anniversary, she wants anyone struggling with any battle to know that they can make it too.
"It was hard for me to get over the battles myself and I thought that I couldn't relate to anybody. But by going to these competitions and stuff, it really showed me that I could get over it — and that's all you kind of have to say is, 'get over it'. Everybody is going through something,” says Katie.
