Faced with adversity following a 2014 car crash that left this standout high school athlete battered, broken and bruised, Jessie Nelson faced a future full of questions. Today, her scars are a reminder of a spiritual and physical journey that has given her new perspective.

Most people wouldn’t think that a near-death car accident would be the best thing that ever happened to a person, but those people haven’t met Jessie Nelson.

Nelson was severely injured on July 8, 2014, when the vehicle she was driving rolled multiple times into a corn field near the Lyon County-Murray County line. She had been visiting her grandparents, had her seat belt on and was not distracted by a cell phone – she had lent her phone to her brother, Asa, the day before. But somehow, she ended up in the field, trapped in the wreckage with her right leg out the window and crushed under the vehicle.

Despite suffering extreme pain and nearly being forced to amputate her leg due to extensive infection, Nelson, amazingly, does not reflect negatively on her experience throughout her turbulent two-year journey. Thanks to her strong Christian faith, she’s remained positive through it all.

“This entire experience has been a work of God,” she said. “He has given me so much perspective through everything. People look at what I went through and they say, ‘If you could go back, would you not get in your accident so that you wouldn’t have to go through all the pain?’ And I said I would go through my accident over and over and over because the pain I went through has made me the person I am today. It’s helped me appreciate life and live it to the fullest.”

Nelson, a recent Tracy Area High School graduate, said she considers herself blessed in numerous ways.

“I’ve been blessed with the gift of life, the gift of saving my leg, the gift of being able to walk again, the gift of being able to play sports again – it’s all gifts from God,” Nelson said. “It’s a miracle. So I will forever live my life to serve the Lord because of how much he’s blessed me with.”

Nelson’s journey is now taking her to southeast Minnesota, where she plans to major in nursing and to once again play competitive volleyball at Rochester Community and Technical College, which won a national championship a year ago,

“After hearing Jessica’s story, I knew she needed to be part of our team,” RCTC volleyball coach Amber Zitzow said. “I was so inspired while listening to her. She was so positive and full of energy.”

AFTER THE ACCIDENT

Davin Bengtson is Nelson’s real-life guardian angel. He spotted her vehicle in the corn field shortly after her crash and immediately sought life-saving assistance.

“Davin wasn’t planning on visiting his neighbor, but then his neighbor was like, ‘You really should come over,'” Nelson said. “So he goes over there. He wasn’t going to stay long, but his neighbor begged him to stay for supper. So he stayed for supper and then on his way home, he was looking in his field, where I rolled, and he found me. If he wouldn’t have found me when he did, I would have bled out and died. God has worked in so many ways.”

Nelson was airlifted to Sanford Hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where she immediately underwent the first of many surgeries.

“I don’t remember the accident or 10 days after it either,” Nelson said. “I had a really bad concussion, my body was traumatized and I was hyped up on so many different medications, so all of those played a factor in me not remembering. They believe the right wheel bearing on my car gave out, but they could never prove it because my car was so totaled. I remember turning on the (gravel) road and the last thing I remember was going about 45 miles per hour. Then I don’t remember anything.”

Nelson’s injuries were extensive, with compound fractures to her right tibia and fibia, a chip fracture to her iliac crest, a broken bone in her face, contusions to her lungs, severely damaged tendons in her left hand and numerous scratches, bumps and bruises.

“The first thing I remember is when the volleyball team came to visit (July 16),” Nelson said. “My brain likes to paint fake pictures, though. My mom took photos and I hear all these stories, so I think I remember, but I don’t actually remember.”

While Nelson’s parents, Sue and Terry Nelson, and brothers, Tommy, Asa and Tony, rallied behind her, as did countless other supporters from all across southwest Minnesota – she has 32,498 visits on her Caring Bridge site – Nelson faced the physical part of the grueling recovery on her own.

“It’s been a tough journey, but it’s been worth it,” she said.

Nelson was cleared to go home on July 25. On Aug. 3, hundreds gathered to show their love and support at a benefit for Nelson. A week later, Nelson was diagnosed with chronic osteomyelitis, a severe and persistent, sometimes incapacitating infection of the bone and bone marrow.

“My leg was obviously infected right away, but they didn’t treat the infection as aggressively as they should have,” Nelson said. “They had me on antibiotics when I got out of the hospital, but then the antibiotics ran out and they never put me on a new one until they realized the infection was still there and it was getting worse.”

Originally, Sioux Falls doctors told Nelson – a 6-1 standout on both the volleyball and basketball teams for the Tracy-Milroy-Balaton Panthers – that she’d likely be back by basketball season. But that didn’t happen.

“As the infection got worse, they pushed the date back,” Nelson said. “They said I’d miss both seasons. When they realized the infection was as bad as it was, they pretty much told me they’d have to cut off my leg.”

AN EXCRUCIATING YEAR

In October 2014, after an ulcer created a hole in her leg, Nelson had two more surgeries in Sioux Falls. But it still wasn’t getting any better, so doctors eventually did an X-ray to see what was going on.

“They’re like, ‘Oh, shoot. Three-and-a-half inches of your (tibia) bone has been eaten away by the infection,'” Nelson said. “So then I got transferred to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester for the limb-salvaging situation. The doctor there said I’d never play sports again. And I’d be lucky to save my leg.”

That was on Oct. 9, 2014. Five days later, Nelson underwent a seven-hour surgery, during which she received her “bionic leg.”

“They cut the top of the bone and I had to transport that bone down my leg,” she said. “So I’d have to turn these pins (making some longer and making some shorter), forcing the middle ring down my leg. The middle ring had four pins connected to it, which were screwed into the bone that was moving down my leg.”

The device moved Nelson’s leg down about a millimeter a day until the bone was completely transported down her leg.

“I turned for over 100 days,” Nelson said. “And every time, it would bring it down a little bit at a time, ripping it down through my leg. It was indescribably excruciating.”

The Ilizarov apparatus is a type of external fixator used in orthopedic surgery to lengthen or reshape limb bones or to treat complex bone fractures.

“A Russian physician in the 1960s invented it,” Nelson said. “He first did it on an Olympic athlete who had gone to several different surgeons who couldn’t figure out how to fix it. The first one he put on was made out of bicycle parts. And nobody else in the world knew about it until the 1990s because they had the Iron Curtain at the time. So then after that, it got released to the rest of the world.”

Horrific crash survivor Don Piper can relate, having described the nearly unendurable pain he suffered while wearing the Ilizarov device in his best-seller, “90 Minutes in Heaven.”

“Some nights I’d be crying in pain on the bathroom floor,” Nelson said. “The pain was so bad it was nauseating, so I’d be throwing up and crying in the bathroom.”

The ordeal was not only extremely difficult for Nelson, but also for her parents. They often told her they felt helpless and that they’d trade places with her in a heartbeat.

“Sometimes I’d be crying and my mom was like, ‘Just have them cut it off,'” Nelson said. “You had to turn the screws three times a day. And if you missed one turn, it would wreck it because the bone would solidify and you’d turn it and it would break. So even if I was in so much pain, my parents would still have to do it. Some of them were so hard to turn that my dad had to take a wrench and turn them in order to get them to move.”

FREEDOM FROM

THE DEVICE

Thirteen months later – November 2015 – the Ilizarov apparatus was removed from Nelson’s leg.

“I took out a couple of the pins,” she said. “It was intense. Some of it had to be taken off with surgery because I also had internal pins that had to be removed.”

The device had weighed more than 10 pounds.

“Waking up from that surgery was amazing,” Nelson said. “I woke up and my leg felt so free.”

Gradually, each follow-up appointment brought better and better news for Nelson. In February, Nelson was cleared to resume her usual activities.

“I went in and the doctor told me that I could do whatever I wanted,” she said. “I said, ‘Well, what do you mean?’ He said I could play sports again. It was the craziest thing because I never expected to be able to play sports again.”

Right away, Nelson called Southwest Minnesota Junior Olympic coaches Tyler Boddy and Mike Dalager.

“I asked them if I could play on their spring volleyball team – not play necessarily on the team, but just practice with them to see if I could ever get back into it,” Nelson said. “They said, ‘Of course’ and were really excited.”

Nelson was overjoyed to start working out right away. But after a couple of weeks, her leg started hurting badly.

“It wasn’t muscle pain, it was bone pain,” she said. “I know the difference. So I called the doctor. He called me back the next morning and said I needed to come in immediately. So I went to Rochester and within 45 minutes, I was in surgery. They put in a rod and two screws because the bone wasn’t strong enough to support itself.”

That did the trick as Nelson was able to return to competition with the SWMN juniors volleyball team.

“It was really amazing,” Nelsons said. “I love that team, and it was really fun. It was great just being able to have the camaraderie of a team again.”

While Nelson rekindled her passion for volleyball, there were frustrations along the way.

“My leg was not where it was before the accident,” she said. “It’s muscle-atrophied and deformed, so there’s limitations. Right away, I tried to play volleyball the way I did before and it didn’t work. So I had to relearn how to play the sport again.”

She’s also learned to handle the pain.

“My leg sometimes hurts,” Nelson said. “It’s sore and it aches a lot, but it’s nothing compared to what it was with the apparatus. My doctor said some people say that having it on your leg is worse than childbirth.”

ROCK SOLID FAITH

Despite the horrific pain, countless time spent in hospitals and not being able to participate in a variety of activities, Nelson has never been angry or bitter about the crash. That insight and composure is rare for someone only 18 years old.

“I never once questioned why because I knew right away,” Nelson said. “Before my accident, I was putting volleyball first in my life, and so right after it happened, I knew. I never questioned Him why. As the severity of my situation got worse and worse, I knew that it was because I really needed to change my life around.”

Nelson believes her suffering has been a blessing in disguise.

“I live by the verse Romans 5:3-4, which says, ‘We rejoice in our sufferings because suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope,'” she said. “So I know in all situations if it’s tough, God is putting me through that so I can come out of it a better person, with either more perspective, more wisdom, more character, more empathy or something.”

Since a person always gets something out of his or her suffering, Nelson said she does rejoice in her suffering.

“I’m glad that I’ve gone through everything I have and I hope to go through more because I know it’ll make me a better person,” Nelson said. “It’ll push me to be better after everything I go through.”

Nelson said she honestly doesn’t know if she would have made it through the past two years without having her faith.

“But with my faith – with God – anything is possible,” she said.

Nelson shares her belief in that certainty with other people, many of whom have said she inspires them.

“I think the reason why people look up to me is because of the strength I’ve shown through everything I’ve gone through and the ability to stay positive and still be able to smile while going through those things,” Nelson said. “All of that is a gift from God. He’s given me this joy that could never be fulfilled by an earthly thing or any earthly human being. And so when people say that, I know that it is from God, that they are inspired because he’s blessed me with the strength.”

Along with strength and joy, Nelson said God has blessed her with the ability to speak in front of people.

“The only reason why I’m here alive and able to stand in front of people and try to inspire them with my life is because of God,” she said. “Since God has given me the life I have, I want to live every day of my life to serve Him.”

Nelson has spoken about her ordeal on a local and regional level.

“I’ve spoken at Field of Faith in Marshall and I spoke at the Marshall High School FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes),” Nelson said. “I spoke at Marshall Middle School FCE and at Southwest Christian school. I spoke at Mountain Lake Christian School and at a youth group in Georgia, Iowa. I also spoke at a youth group by Willmar.”

Nelson also spoke at a University of Minnesota Research Center teacher conference and at the Wabasso FCA group. Recently, she shared her testimony at Shetek Baptist Bible Camp, where she was a counselor for five weeks.

“I’ve spoken at many different places and I plan to speak at many more,” she said. “I’m very excited to see what God has in store with that.”

MOVING FORWARD

The day after Nelson was cleared completely, she went on a prescheduled college visit to RCTC. For Nelson, it was the day everything seemed to fall into place.

“We toured the regular campus and everything with everyone and when it was done, I asked my tour guide lady if I could tour the athletic facility,” Nelson said. “She said, ‘Oh, sure.’ At the end of that tour, I asked who the volleyball coach was and ironically, she was sitting right there.”

Coach Zitzow, after talking with Nelson and her mom for about 30 minutes, was inspired and knew she’d found a valuable asset for her top-notch team.

“I knew she would fit in well with our program,” Zitzow said. “Why wouldn’t you want Jessie on your team? She is so positive, is a ball of energy and she has such enthusiasm for never giving up and such joy for life.”

Nelson met most of her teammates – one of whom is Brooke Wendland of Balaton – at the televised signing day.

“We’ve had our nine-week training with volleyball, not with the coach, but with my teammates,” Nelson said. “Brooke is very good, and she’s actually one of my really good friends now.”

She’s also had Sunday practices this summer. The hectic schedule – between being a camp counselor, driving to Rochester every week, along with other activities and family time – has Nelson primed for college life. She moved in a week ago and started volleyball practice Wednesday.

Though she’s extremely excited to play at the next level, Nelson knows she needs to remain grounded.

“I’m a completely different player than I was before,” she said. “I’m obviously a lot slower and I can’t jump as high – some of that will come back in time but some of it will never come back just because there’s so much nerve damage and things that are irreparable – but I still love it.”

Self-fulfillment is not the primary reason Nelson is continuing her volleyball career, however.

“I’m going on to play volleyball, not because I love the sport and not because I want to, but because I want to use my story to inspire others and to bring more people to God,” she said. “It’s a miracle that I have my life and it’s a miracle that I have my leg. Then, even to be able to walk again with my own leg is amazing. And now, I’m able to play volleyball again and it’s been great.”

Nelson is pursuing a nursing career – kindled by her experience the past two years.

“After being in the hospital so much and spending so much time with the nurses and the doctors, it really sparked a passion for the medical field,” she said. “I’m starting off with nursing first, but it would be amazing if I could become an orthopedic surgeon like my doctor. But as long as I’m serving God, I don’t care what I do.”

Nelson’s experience has armed her with valuable insight and empathy.

“It would be really cool because I’d be able to connect with the patient a lot, given what I’ve gone through,” Nelson said. “I kind of know what I would’ve wanted or what people did that was really good for me going through what I did. I think nurses and doctors are best when they treat a patient like a person and not just a patient.”

Nelson will share those thoughts in an autobiography that she plans to write in the future.

“That was Grandpa Jim’s (Welle) dying wish,” she said.

Working in the medical field would also give Nelson the opportunity to share her story and love of life with others. It’s the same reason she fully embraces her scars.

“The doctors have asked me if I wanted to have surgery to make the scars look less noticeable, but I said no because it gives me the opportunity to share my story when people ask about the scars,” Nelson said. “So my leg will always be deformed and scarred.”