Dressed in her favorite jeans, a sleeveless top and flip flops, 17-year-old Tonya Winchester leaned back in the Jeep passenger seat and extended her hand through the window to feel the warm, June breeze. She was relaxed and at peace. It was the calm before a life-changing storm.
Seconds later, an 18-wheeler rammed into the passenger door, and Winchester’s body catapulted through the windshield.
“You know what happens in jeeps. We flipped three or four times. I was not wearing my seatbelt. I flew through the windshield to my mid chest. I still have a nasty scar,” said Winchester.
But that was not the worst news. Found at the scene unconscious, when Winchester awoke she could not move her legs. She was comatose for two and a half weeks, spent nearly six months in hospitals and ultimately underwent 10 life-threatening surgeries. Watching patient after patient walk out of rehab, Winchester assumed she would follow suit. The full weight of the accident hit her the day she was released and told that she was paralyzed—permanently.
“When traumatic things happen, they bring out the worst and the best in people,” Winchester said. “Things are always going to happen. It is part of life. But, there is still so much to be thankful for. I was not breathing at the scene of the crash. I was told they tried three times to revive me. What if they only tried two times? God is good. My family and our faith are all that kept me going,” she said.
Day to Day Decisions
Though she has a positive attitude, adapting to her new circumstances was incredibly challenging for Winchester and her family. Her mother quit her job at Raytheon to become her caregiver.
“When I was discharged from the hospital my parents didn’t know how to get me out of bed or showered. I was terrified to be moved wrong because my legs would hurt, so I stayed in bed for a couple of weeks,” she said.
Winchester made a few changes in her life before that tragic accident. Though she said she felt very supported by her parents, she was teased about her weight and the fact that she earned good grades in high school.
“I flipped the script and started breaking the rules. I wanted to belong, to be loved by my peers.”
She and her friends were intoxicated the night of the accident. It took a long time for Winchester to come to terms with the choices she made and the aftermath, but she took life one day at a time and began setting goals.
“I am very independent when I am in my chair, but I still need help to get in and out of bed. I always had a dream to go to college. I started taking Collin College classes in high school as a dual credit student. I went back to Collin and started with one course and then two and then three. It took everything I had – especially at first. I was limited with my movement and what I could do. I wanted to prove to myself that even though this happened to me I can still do this,” she said.
Her effort paid off. Winchester served as a representative for the college’s Student Activity Fee Advisory Committee and a fundraising officer for the college’s chapter of the National Society of Leadership and Success. She was inducted into Phi Theta Kappa honor society, named an Emerging Scholar and received an APA Academic Achievement Award in Psychology. In addition, she was awarded scholarships from the McKinney Education Foundation, First Baptist Church and the Collin College Foundation’s Judy and Paul Pogue honorary scholarship.
“I took professor Larry Stern’s social problems course. I was unaware of my personal hidden biases. Man, did he open my eyes to social and personal awareness. That class alone really changed me. I tell everyone to take that class,” she said.
Winchester began speaking for Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and then took a speech class with professor Judi Wohead.
“Her class increased my confidence. I learned the power of a pause, which is probably the tool I use the most. You have to let people think and reflect.”
Winchester earned an associate of arts degree from Collin College in 2011 and transferred to the University of North Texas (UNT) where she earned a bachelor’s degree in social work in 2016 and was asked to speak at her graduation.
“Everything I learned at Collin I retained. At UNT, we would be going over certain concepts, and I already knew what we were discussing, so I raised my hand. I was asked where I attended school. I love Collin College.”
Currently, Winchester works part time and shares her personal story as a community speaker for numerous organizations including McKinney ISD, MADD, YMCA, Salvation Army, Meals on Wheels, Samaritan Inn and numerous churches. She is also on the board for Legal Aid of NW Texas.
Reflecting back, Winchester says she has a message for her younger self.
“I would tell myself not to worry about what anyone else is thinking. I would say, ‘You are strong. You are brave. You can do it. One day all this hard work will have made a difference. One day you will make a difference and impact thousands.’ I would speak life to myself,” she said.
A forward thinker, Winchester does not dwell on the past. Ultimately, she hopes to open a school to teach people how to care for paralyzed individuals, saving others from the anguish she endured. Until that day, she plans to continually share her story in an endeavor to inspire others.
“We need to be reminded that life is short, and things can happen at any moment. I’m a big believer that we all have gifts. One of them is the gift of encouragement. I remind people that we are all going through things but to not let anything stop us. We all have a purpose.”