Teen Tries to get Back to Normal Life After Car Crash with Moose

Amaya Nelson adjusts to life at home after being released from the hospital.

TWO HARBORS, Minn.- The 17–year–old survivor who was injured in a car crash with a moose speaks out and shares details about how she’s adjusting to life at home since being released from the hospital.

Amaya Nelson was released from the hospital Saturday, July 20 because the doctor’s said she was healed enough to go home a miraculous three weeks ahead of schedule.

“I’ve always been a pretty fast healer, but this has even amazed me,” Nelson said.

It’s been a week of change and reflection for Nelson, who is trying to get back to the swing of things after the devastating car accident where she collided with a 14 hundred pound moose at the beginning of the month.

“You can barely tell just looking at me that I broke almost every bone in my face a couple weeks ago,” Nelson said.

After just 13 days in the hospital, Amaya went home feeling sore but grateful.

“They wanted me to rest a lot, but that’s been difficult for me because I’m so much of a doer. I just want to do, do, do, but I can’t,” Nelson said.

Thanks to community support, Amaya and her family raised enough money to buy her a new and safer car. She’s already faced her fears and gotten behind the wheel.

“Surprisingly, driving hasn’t been an issue. I started driving again fine. Not at night, and definitely not in the middle of nowhere,” she said.

But it isn’t all positive. Amaya still can’t eat hard foods and struggles talking at times because of the tubes that were in her throat at the hospital.

Overall, she just feels lucky to be alive.

“It was scary. It put a lot of things into perspective. A lot of little things don’t matter anymore because I realize I came inches from death. Just looking at that car and seeing how close it was to my head… It’s crazy. It’s crazy to think about,” Nelson said.