Johnson's road to recovery nearly complete

"It's been hard work, but it's been worth it." Those are the words of Nevada High School multi-sport athlete Lexi Johnson.

Lexi was involved in a head-on vehicle collision last October that left her with two broken legs, a fractured collar bone and a torn patellar tendon. She openly admits that the trip that ended in that accident should have been her last, but still keeps a positive attitude about her situation.

That accident -- coming just three months after surgery on her torn anterior cruciate ligament -- led to Lexi having to be air-lifted to a hospital for yet another six-hour long surgery to repair the damage that had been done. That trip was one that Lexi never even remembered taking.

According the authorities who were present at the scene, a seat belt was the only thing that saved her life.

After the surgery, Lexi spent two months in a wheelchair and another five months seeing a physical therapist before taking over her own rehabilitation efforts. Her mother, Natalie, said that Lexi has made an amazing recovery and "done good."

Doctors did tell the Johnson family that Lexi should be able to make a full recovery, but did not expect her to return to athletics. She is currently playing on the Lady Tigers Junior Varsity softball team.

Lexi still has some lingering issues from the accident and was forced to have yet another surgery in May to repair the tibia that never healed after being broken in the accident. After doctors were able to close the gap in her bone, the injuries were finally able to heal.

"That seemed to finally take care of it," Natalie said of Lexi's latest surgery.

It is not uncommon for victims of a broken femur -- the largest bone in the body -- to take years to simply recover to the point of being able to do everyday activities. Lexi has recovered almost completely from breaking her left femur and both tibias in just 11 months.

Lexi says that her speed is not quite up to where she would like it, but is continually getting better and she refuses to let that stop her. "I'm just really glad to be back," she said.

Recovery has been a long, hard road, but Lexi still walks that road with the same tenacity and will to succeed that helped her become a strong enough athlete to make last year's Nevada High School Varsity basketball team as a freshman. Lexi has been relying on her intensely strong will to succeed and her just as intense independence to help her make recovery as fast a process as possible.

After the healing process from the surgeries was over, Lexi had to begin the long and arduous task of regaining the range of motion in her legs and getting back the muscle tone and function that had been lost. Though it has been difficult, Lexi is still determined to continue to push herself to get better and return to playing sports at her full potential.

The biggest things that she still deals with, Lexi says, are swelling in her ankles from the running that she has been doing and the soreness that still comes with prolonged exercise. In the beginning, trying to run was a painful activity in itself, but Lexi pushed through the pain and now says that her speed is steadily improving and her range of motion has been almost fully restored in both knees.

Lexi and Natalie are both very pleased with the speed with which she has been able to recover, but will both openly admit that she has a long way to go. Lexi hopes to be able to continue her improvement and play on the Lady Tigers basketball team this winter.

Most of the advances that she has made -- Lexi and Natalie both agreed -- has been due to the intense desire that Lexi possesses to do things for herself and to play sports. She still stretches daily to keep her joints and muscles loose, and things continue to improve with each passing day.

Lexi related several small anecdotes about all of her teammates and others worrying too much about her, as she put it. But despite being a bit annoyed at times with the worries, she realizes that there are people out there who care about how she is recovering and that -- not simply being over-protective and trying keep her sidelined -- is the root of the worry.

Lexi's recovery has turned many heads over the past several months and her ever-present and inexhaustible smile proves that she will not give up on her independence or athletic aspirations, no matter the obstacles she may encounter.