How a Terrifying Car Crash Almost Ruined the Life of Idaho Teen, Kennedy Bingham

Five years after a crash that left her hanging from a power line by a broken leg, Kennedy Bingham has shared new images from the incident that changed her life forever and offered fresh insight into the accident.

The crash happened in May 2021, when the Idaho native was a teenager. What began as a drive on a mountain road turned into a violent rollover that left her suspended about 30 feet in the air for nearly an hour before rescue crews could reach her.

The incident began shortly after a personal breakup. Kennedy had joined friends for a hike up a nearby mountain. After parking at the base, the group went on the hike. On the drive back down, she became emotional behind the wheel, lost control of the car, overcorrected and struck a telephone pole.

The vehicle then flipped and rolled several times. All three teenagers inside were ejected from the car, and none of them was wearing a seat belt.

Kennedy was the first to be thrown from the vehicle. She landed on a power line about 30 feet above the ground.

“I wasn’t on the ground, I was actually hanging in the air by my broken leg, so all three of us were thrown out, and I was hanging up there,” she previously told Inside Edition.

Her injuries were severe. Her femur snapped over the wire, leaving her suspended upside down. She also suffered a serious arm injury.

“In the process of getting thrown by arm, I was actually turned off and was hanging on by the skin of my back, and then my femur was snapped over the wire and hanging in front of my face,” she said.

Kennedy also suffered electrical injuries while suspended in the air. She remained trapped for close to an hour before emergency crews arrived. When firefighters finally reached her, she recalled one rescuer grabbing her legs as her lifeless body was lowered onto a stretcher.

Doctors diagnosed her with a brachial plexus injury after nerves were torn from her spine, leaving one arm permanently paralysed. She underwent 21 surgeries in an attempt to save her leg, but it was eventually amputated.

However, even after so many surgeries and broken body parts, Kennedy did not give up on pursuing life from a different point of view. Despite her unimaginable conditions, she is a motivational speaker and frequently inspires her followers online. The online creator has recently completed a HYROX fitness race while wearing her running blade after six months of vigorous training.

“I knew it was really scary, and I knew it was gonna push myself more than anything I probably could’ve chose,” she told PEOPLE. “But I knew I could do it.”