Jay Briscoe‘s daughter Gracie Pugh opens up about her recovery following a tragic car accident.
On January 17, 2023, Jamin Pugh (Jay Briscoe) and his two daughters were in a car accident. Jamin tragically passed away in the accident. Jayleigh and Gracie were in the car, and they were both seriously injured. However, they have recovered.
Speaking with Central Worship Center, Gracie Pugh discussed the car accident and her recovery.
“Hi, my name is Gracie Pugh, I’m in eighth grade at Laurel Middle School,” she said. “My dad was Jamin Pugh, he was a professional wrestler, so some of you might know him. My dad was in wrestling for over 20 years, and a lot of people knew him. Life was good, and then January 17, 2023, my dad woke us up for school, just a normal day. He brought us outside, he was so excited that there was this big rainbow outside, and then we went to school, it was a normal day.”
Gracie Pugh On The Accident
Gracie Pugh continued by recalling the accident and the immediate aftermath.
“After school, we went to cheer practice, and we got into a car accident on the way to cheer practice,” she said. “Once we got into the car accident, I remember some dude just carried me out of the car, and I just remember my sister, I don’t remember seeing her, but I can remember hearing her, and I remember seeing my dad in the truck.
“After that, we went to the hospital, and my mom told me how there were so many people there, and everyone was praying for us already. I asked where my sister was, and she was in the room next to me. I remember going to the next hospital, I went into surgery there, and then the next day, I woke up, I was really clueless, I didn’t know what was happening. But I asked for my phone, and then my mom had to tell me that my dad passed say.”
“I had a spinal cord injury, and my sister broke her leg. The bone came out of her leg. She broke her collarbone, she broke her neck. Something happened to her stomach, she had to go into surgery for that.”
Gracie Pugh On Her Recovery
Gracie Pugh then detailed her road to recovery, which started with being told that she may never walk again.
“After I found out that my dad died and that I may not be able to walk again, the doctor explained to my mom that my back was broke, but he could fix my back and make it look normal again, but it would take a much higher power for me to ever be able to walk again,” she said. “I honestly couldn’t even process it, I was so confused. I was like, there’s no way I could be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life. Ad I knew that my dad wouldn’t want me to be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life elther.
Gracie expressed her gratitude for her friends, her family, and everyone who prayed for her.
“After I was in therapy for a while, I had to stay in the hospital for a month, and I had to start with just learning how to sit again,” she said. “I had no feeling or movement in my legs for two weeks, and then it slowly started coming back, and I could kick my leg, and I could stand with a lot of support. I started to take first steps with this big walker and these big braces on my legs, and I had to work a lot, and a lot of movement and capability for me to do stuff came back.”
Gracie went on to recall how she took her first steps and ultimately made a full recovery, as she could even jog again. She emphasized that she kept her faith in God. Gracie continued to remember that her dad wouldn’t want her to be in a wheelchair.
The video can be seen here:
On behalf of WrestleZone, we continue to send our best wishes to the Pugh family.
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