Eight years ago, Bonin, 32, was busy pursuing a master’s degree. It was a difficult period for her, because at the same time her mother was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. One Saturday evening, she went to visit her cousin, not knowing that this car trip would change her life forever. I lost control of the car and crashed into a tree.

“It happened on a slight bend where I was driving straight. I don’t know why, I had a lot of thinking and I was tired from the week,” says Boonen. She tried to unbuckle her seatbelt and open the door, but a dent in the door prevented her from doing so. The car caught fire and Bonin panicked. “I just thought: am I going to burn here alive?” A passerby eventually managed to free her from the car. “I was really lucky, because a few seconds later the car exploded.”

Bunin was taken to the hospital. “The first moment I remember was in the middle of the night when I got up and looked under the covers to see if I still had my legs. The external fixations were put in there. I thought I could do everything again after two weeks, but soon I had another operation. Eventually It turns out that I broke about fifty bones.

A few days later, Bonin heard her right foot was completely shattered. “Orthopedic surgeons told me that without amputation I would never be able to walk again, except with a prosthesis. Fortunately, there was a doctor who suggested bone-saving surgery, and that is what I chose in the end,” she says. After spending three weeks in the hospital, Bonin entered a rehabilitation center. She spent a year and a half there. Five months after the accident, her mother passed away and Kelly underwent another surgery. There was no time for grief.

Pinin She shared her story on LinkedIn last week Because the accident happened exactly eight years ago. She writes that she has faced the past eight years as very difficult. However, she wanted to prove otherwise to anyone who thought she would never walk again. “I want to inspire people with my story of perseverance, no matter what difficult situation someone is in. You always have the option to turn a negative thing into something positive. I get a lot of nice feedback from people saying I’m strong.”

“You can end up in a situation from one moment to the next where you can no longer do anything,” Kelly says of her experience. “The past eight years have been difficult, painful and sad, but I also had many beautiful moments and met special people. I was already strong but I know I am stronger now.”