(KMOV) ST. LOUIS — Janae Edmondson is a gifted athlete whose life has now been forever changed.
"[She's] a wonderful kid with a great smile. A three-sport athlete in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, who just committed to play college volleyball next year," said Jeff Wismer, the assistant director at the Midten Volleyball Club that Edmondson played for.
"She has lost both limbs below her waist. So, for us, how do you find words to explain our sorrow? We really can't," said Wismer.
Edmondson was struck by a car when she was walking back to her hotel with her family on the night of Saturday, Feb. 18.
"We have frustration, we have anger over any responsible acts, a missed sign, or whatever was the causation of this," said Wismer.
A video shared with KMOV News 4 captured the moment in which the crash happens.
The gray Audi Q5 was driving westbound through the intersection in St. Louis after failing to yield. A second car, a Chevy Malibu driving northbound, then struck the Audi.
The Audi struck Edmondson before rolling onto its roof. Some of the aftermath can be seen through these images.
"I think everybody wants to hug their parents and hug their kids and be a little bit tighter with them because you never know when something like this can happen," said Scott McQueen, the owner and tournament director of the Capitol Sports Center. "But again, we have a great volleyball community here and everybody is banding together and really supporting Midten Tennessee, the volleyball club."
Capitol Sports Center hosted the President's Day Classic tournament in St. Louis that Edmondson went to.
"Any time you're in a big city, we try to make sure that we have, the kids aren't walking by themselves. This doesn't sound like anything that couldn't have been prevented on their side. It's a tragedy," said McQueen.
As Edmondson continues her long road to recovery a GoFundMe has been created by the volleyball community to raise money to help support her and her family.
"The road in front of Janae is tough," said Wismer. "There's going to be a lot of challenges ahead, financial challenges, emotional challenges. We're hoping the community can embrace this family as she goes through this unique time in her life that you can never imagine. This is an unthinkable situation that she has to encounter right now."
