Lexy Jones

The summer of 2014 I found myself in a situation unlike any before; I was injured in a head on 45 mph collision with a tree. The scariest part was that I had not been wearing a seatbelt while sitting in the back middle seat. While I was not the driver, there is no doubt that I am very lucky to be alive today. I could have easily been thrown through the windshield had my foot not been caught beneath the center console.

While the accident itself was only a matter of seconds, its impact has been long lasting and completely altered the course of my senior year of high school. They said the entire mid-section of my foot had been crushed, while also fracturing my heel and having to fuse four bones together.

Three doctors later, I was running out of hope as they all informed me that I would never be able to walk or run without pain again post surgery. We were then recommended by a friend to visit HSS for a foot consultation. Here I met the one and only Dr. Martin O'Malley. I expressed my concerns of missing my final ice hockey season and never being able to walk without pain. Immediately he was encouraging and positive about what the outcome could be.

After a five-hour surgery, two plates, six screws and five pins later, my foot was put back together. Now, looking back, a whole six years later, I have run two half marathons and just completed my first New York City Marathon this past November, crushing my individual time goal and without pain. Not a week goes by that I do not think about the wonderful people and doctors at HSS who always kept my spirits up through a year of recovery. I am, and will be, forever grateful to Dr. O'Malley and his team at HSS for giving me the second chance to get Back in the Game.