NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — On her way home from culinary school, Serenity Sumler came across a single-car crash on Interstate 24 in Antioch. Something told her to pull over.
"Because, you know, my mom raised me that way. It wouldn't have sat well if I saw she was in distress and went home," Sumler said.
While Sumler stood on the passenger side of the crashed car, talking to the driver and calling 911, police say an SUV spun out, hit a guardrail, and slammed into her.
"I got pinned between that car and the lady's car, my lower half, until her car moved and I finally hit the ground. In that moment, I thought my life was over," Sumler said.
According to crash investigators, first responders did not know if Sumler was going to survive. Both of her legs and her pelvis were crushed, and she suffered extensive tissue damage.
Sumler spent 31 days at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, including time in the ICU. When she was released earlier this month, the 20-year-old had to move back in with her mother while she continues to recover.
"Yesterday I had my mom help me shower because I have a shower chair. I can't stand up," Sumler said.
Sumler had been putting money from a part-time job toward culinary school tuition. When she turned 19 in 2024, the cost of her health coverage through TennCare, Tennessee's Medicaid program, was set to increase significantly. Facing a difficult financial decision, she chose to go without insurance.
"From $16, it's going to be $286 a month, and I don't know anyone, especially a parent trying to see their 19-year-old trying to pay car insurance, try to maintain, and then have to pay $286 for insurance," Demetria Dobbins, her mother, said.
As Sumler's medical bills mount, her mother said she worries about her daughter's state of mind.
"She does struggle now with, 'Maybe I shouldn't have helped that person, then I wouldn't be here. I want to be going to school,'" her mother said. "I'm like, you can't think like that, because you're doing what's on your heart. Always follow your heart. And anytime you're helping a stranger or whatever the case may be, I feel like you'll get it in the end."
The family is waiting to find out if Sumler qualifies for what is essentially emergency TennCare coverage. In the meantime, Sumler said she is focused on what she can control.
"I still have my woulda, shoulda, coulda, but at the end of the day, I'm still glad that I helped somebody out, even though I got hurt in the end," Sumler said.
The family set up a GoFundMe to help pay for physical therapy and her bills while she can't work.
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