On a routine October workday, Raelyn Janssen was doing what she always did working hard at a landscaping job in St. Albert. Minutes later, she was fighting for her life.
An SUV struck a parked trailer, pinning the 23-year-old beneath it. The injuries were catastrophic. Both of her lower legs. Gone. Her arm, shattered. By the time the air ambulance touched down at the University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton, Janssen had already begun what would become the hardest fight of her young life.
The Long Road from the Trauma Bay
Multiple surgeries followed that first desperate flight. The kind of medical marathon that breaks people. The kind that leaves families hollow-eyed in waiting rooms, searching for hope in fluorescent-lit hallways.
But something unusual started happening in Janssen's hospital room. Where despair might have taken root, determination grew instead. Within weeks of losing her legs, she was working out. Light exercises at first whatever she could manage from her bed. The same drive that had her hauling equipment under the Alberta sun now had her counting reps between visits from nurses.
A Community That Showed Up
Word spread fast through Janssen's gym community. Then her friends. Then strangers who'd never met her but recognized something in her story maybe the unfairness of it, maybe her refusal to surrender to it.
A GoFundMe campaign launched and the response was staggering. Donations have climbed to nearly $200,000, a testament to how deeply Janssen's story has resonated. But more than money, people offered presence. Family members became fixtures at her bedside. Friends showed up not with pity, but with the kind of stubborn support that says we're not going anywhere.
Finding Her Voice
Janssen started sharing her journey online, and something clicked. Her posts weren't polished motivational content. They were raw, real glimpses into what it actually looks like to rebuild a life from the wreckage of the one you had planned. The response was overwhelming. Followers multiplied. Comments poured in from people drawing strength from her honesty.
She's not pretending it's easy. She's showing that it's possible.
At 23, Raelyn Janssen is learning to navigate a world built for people with legs. She's relearning independence, one small victory at a time. And she's proving something that her growing community of supporters already knew: some people don't break. They just find new ways to move forward.
