WALKER COUNTY, Ga. -- Walking with her daughter, Audra Tatum is a little slower than she used to be. A limp, in her right leg, is to blame.
It's a reminder of an accident she barely survived two years ago.
"A nightmare. A true, true honest to God, nightmare," she said.
She was riding in the front seat. Her husband was driving her and their daughter to her parents' house.
She said a car pulled out in front of them. "We T-boned him, it was like hitting a brick wall."
Not only was she not wearing a seat belt, she was resting her foot against the dash. "When the airbag exploded, it pushed my foot up into my face," Audra said.
Bones in Audra's leg, foot, shoulder, and face crushed from the force. "Now, I have 6 screws and a metal rod in my femur from where my femur broke in 4 places," she said.
At the hospital, doctors told Audra that if her foot had been on the floor she wouldn't even have been hospitalized.
Now, she wants to keep others from making the same mistake. "It took my career from me. It's took so much from me in life... and I'm still recovering," she said.
Before her accident Audra thought resting her foot on the dash was harmless. "It can kill you. It can kill you."
Today, she feels lucky to be able to limp beside her daughter.
