FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A 13-year-old girl who was impaled by a metal rod in her mother's minivan on Interstate 95 has grown up, and she said the incident played a big role in shaping who she is today.
A metal spike pinned Stephanie Murray, 13, to the front seat of the family minivan in June 1998.
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"We were on 95 going south and something came through the window, a stick, and it's in my daughter's chest," her mother told a 911 operator that day.
A hospital parking lot turned into an outdoor emergency room, a group of doctors cutting the steel rod out of the teenager's chest, less than an inch from her heart.
After 11 days in the hospital, the smiling teen went home.
Braces and ponytail long gone, Murray returned to Broward General Medical Center recently to reconnect with some of the doctors and nurses who saved her life.
"I remember everything. It is such a surreal incident that happened," Murray said. "It's such a blessing to be able to revisit."
Over the last 13 years, Murray has finished grade school, college and graduate school.
"I have a bachelor's in architecture, a master's in urban regional planning and a second master's in construction management and building construction," Murray said.
She now works for Disney in Orlando. She got married in July to Drew Murray, who is in law enforcement. Friends introduced the couple, in part because they share the same last name.
"My whole life since the accident, instead of dwelling on what happened, was just to continually change, keep the good people in my life and continue moving forward," Stephanie Murray said.
Murray said she hasn't forgotten what it is like to be in the hospital, and she visits sick children when she can.
"Being able to impact them right now and knowing that even though you don't feel good, tomorrow you will feel a lot better. Just hang in there," she said.
Murray said she has had no health issues since the accident and is able to bicycle, hike and work out with her husband.