Awake and Alive - Images | Shane Flanigan

$Stephanie Latier stands next to the remains of her Chrysler minivan at her parents’ campground and talks about the accident that nearly took her life. On Feb. 18, 2015, Stephanie was driving to work on Ohio 37 near Millersport when she drifted over the center line while distracted by her cell phone. Her front passenger side collided head-on with another vehicle. Stephanie suffered shearing of her spine and a fracture in her leg. Her brain injury was categorized as a diffuse axonal injury, which occurs when the brain shifts forward and backward in the skull. Emergency crews found Stephanie unconscious with her back against the passenger door and her head through the window. She was not wearing her seat belt. She was transported to Fairfield Medical Center in Lancaster and then transferred to the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center's intensive care unit in Columbus.$