Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
MAGNA -- Seventeen-year-old Ciara Allen of Magna knows how tragedy can strike in an instant. Last summer, the Cyprus High School senior-to-be was in a terrible car accident. Her mother says it's a miracle she's alive today.
Coming home from a family vacation on July 12, 2009, Ciara was asleep in the backseat of her family's car without a seat belt on. Her mother was at the wheel and her father sitting up front.
"My mom fell asleep at the wheel, and we went off a 15-foot drop and rolled three times," Ciara said. "I was thrown out probably the first or second roll."
Ciara was thrown out of the rear window and slid face first. She believes what saved her was the fact they crashed into mud near the Great Salt Lake.
In an instant, Ciara went from beautiful to broken.
"I woke up covered in mud," she said. "I didn't really know what happened. It kind of felt like a dream."
The accident left her with several serious injuries to her face.
"I broke my eye socket and my cheek bones and my nose -- that was the big one," Ciara said.
"I just cried," Ciara's mother, Dianne Allen, said. "I felt really sad that I'd fallen asleep. I just grabbed her hand and told her I was sorry."
Dianne had to be cut out of the car. She suffered three broken ribs and a broken sternum. Ciara's father suffered a concussion but was able to walk from the accident.
I just learned to be grateful for the little stuff. It means a lot -- makes me work harder, play harder, go the extra mile.
–Ciara Allen
#ciara_q
Ciara stayed in the hospital one week. In addition to her facial injuries, she had a deep cut near her ankle, which barely missed her Achilles tendon. But most serious was a huge gash on her hamstring -- an injury she figures happened when she went through the glass.
"The cut took forever to heal," she continued. "It took like three months 'cause they had to figure how to sew it up."
Whatever way they did it, it worked -- and Ciara couldn't be happier. She's back in her high tops and playing the game she loves: basketball at Cyprus High School.
"Every time she goes on the court, it's a miracle to me. No one will know how much she's been through," Dianne said. "She's kind of taught the whole family how to deal with trials and setbacks and surviving something that's not so pleasant."
"I just kinda learned to be grateful for the little stuff," Ciara said. "It makes me work harder, play harder, do the extra mile."
Nearly six months after the accident, Ciara has gone from broken back to beautiful. Except for a few scars, she says she's almost healed. And the message she's sharing with everybody is always wear your seat belt.
E-mail: kaiken@ksl.com
