(WHYY) – When Jordan Emerson was 13, she was a member of the Whiz Kidz race team. They raced 4-cylinder compact cars on a small NASCAR racetrack in Scarborough, Maine.
During a race in 2007, Emerson’s car spun off the track and slammed into the outside wall. On impact, she hit her head, cracked her left hip, broke her left shoulder and immediately fell into a coma.
At the hospital, the doctors discovered that she also had a traumatic brain injury. At best, they predicted, she would live on in a vegetative state, never to walk or speak again.
For about three months, Emerson’s life was on pause. Her friends and family held their breath, waiting for her to come out of the coma. CONTINUE