ST. LOUIS — Support continues to grow from across the country for the Tennessee teen who lost both of her legs when a car crashed into her this past weekend.
5 On Your Side learned Janae Edmondson had to undergo surgery on Wednesday to get her wounds checked. The 17-year-old is in considerable pain and is still in critical condition.
Jeff Wismer, MID-TN Volleyball Club's assistant director, said Edmondson's family is continuing to ask for prayers, but also space so they can focus on their child who still has a long road to recovery.
"The surrealness of where we are is setting in, you know, still more questions than answers at this point," he said.
It's a gamut of emotions right now for everyone in Smyrna, Tennessee, specifically inside the MID-TN Volleyball Club gym, where Edmondson once dominated, according to Wismer.
"Our kids were kids. They smiled, they played, they laughed, they cried. They hugged the coaches that needed to be hugged. Our coaches bounced the balls the way they always do, and we were just together," he said.
Edmondson lost both of her legs and remains in critical condition in a St. Louis hospital after a car hit and pinned her on Saturday, Feb. 18.
The man accused of causing the crash, Daniel Riley, was arrested and charged with multiple felonies.
Wismer said his club is moving into a phase of 'not memorializing but celebrating.'
"We have Janae and we're excited for her to come home and let's celebrate life, let's celebrate her personality, let's celebrate all the gifts that she has," he said.
Wismer said the support the family and club have received is 'overwhelming.'
"It's been a wide array of whether it's financial, whether it is a 12-year old’s note, whether it is a double amputee calling and saying, 'Hey, when the time comes, like no one was there for me when I lost my leg at 16, so maybe I can be there for this kid at 17,'" he said.
Volleyball clubs across the country donated, prayed and even wore blue all week to practice in support of Edmondson, according to Wismer.
"It’s clubs throughout the country. Obviously, the St. Louis clubs have been fantastic in terms of offering the food train, offering finances. Local clubs going to the hospital and giving money, getting gift cards, those sorts of things, that's been humbling. The gratitude has been overwhelming," he said.
Terry Hall is the President of the Lesley and Rhyan Prather Foundation.
The foundation, based out of Kentucky, supports families facing tragedies, like Edmondson's.
"This hits home in our foundation," he said.
Hall's sister-in-law, Lesley, and niece, Rhyan, were killed in a car crash in Lake Saint Louis on Feb. 14, 2020.
They were on their way to the same President's Day volleyball tournament Edmondson was in town for.
They were driving through St. Louis to get to the tournament in Kansas City, according to Hall.
"Just hearing that tournament's name kind of puts a pit in your stomach, so that side of me was just having flashbacks of our situation," he said.
That's why Hall wants Edmondson's family to know they have support.
"It's just important for them to know that this community has their back," he said.
The GoFundMe link set up for Edmondson raised over $300,000 in just two days of its being formed.
The Lesley and Rhyan Prather Foundation also has a fundraising link.