The little feet of the two-year-old girl run around the front yard as the sun shines down on Kristina Goodwinn, her father, and older brother. They join her on the adventures of playing on Sept. 5, 1995. The little girl gets tired from the running and playing and takes a seat on the back of her father’s truck. Before she knows it, the truck is rolling backward until the wheels pass over her and all her father sees is the head of his baby girl cracked open on the driveway.

“It was complete shock I was so scared when I heard,” said mother Mrs. Kathleen Goodwin.

The family was about to head down to their Grandmother’s house to meet up with loving wife and mother, Kathleen Goodwin. Instead Mr. Goodwin accidently hit his little girl and had to quickly rush her to the nearest hospital where a helicopter was sent to pick her up and take her to the Children’s Hospital down in Little Rock. After carefully reviewing Goodwin’s condition the doctor’s told the family that she only had about a five percent chance of surviving this injury. Goodwin had developed an infection in her brain resulting in surgery where one third of her brain was taken out along with a piece of her skull that was replaced with a metal plate. This procedure left a jagged scar along her hairline and a dent in the upper right side of her head.

“People make fun of me because of how I look, my smile is crooked and I have a dent,” said senior Kristina Goodwin. “People STILL look at me like a freak but whatever.”

After two months in the hospital Goodwin was finally released. While in the hospital, Goodwin’s third birthday was celebrated. The hospital was followed by two years of rehabilitation to re-learn everything from talking to walking. Thankfully little Kristina Goodwin was talking again by the time she left the hospital and through rehab she adjusted to life with a wheelchair to life with a walker before she fully got back to walking again.

“It was something we had to adapt to, we carried her and pushed her wheelchair and helped her the best we could,” said Mrs. Goodwin.

The little she remembers about the incident appears as a blur of the truck, hospitals, and surgery with a mix of sad, scared, and vulnerable emotions. Now as a senior, Goodwin is without the use of her left hand and walks with a limp.

“I see people who can use both hands walking down the hall. It’s very hard not to look at them and think of how lucky they are,” said Goodwin.

In her Grandfather’s photo album there remains an image of that little girl taken before the accident. In the picture Goodwin is maybe two, right before her injury occurred, she’s clapping with both hands and has a bright smile on her face.

“I see me using both hands and I want to cry. I wasn’t always the way I am now, I used to have that ability and now it’s taken from me,” said Goodwin. “Sometimes it’s so hard to forgive my dad.”

The physical results weren’t the only harm that came from this painful memory. The family also suffered, as it was her dad who accidentally ran Goodwin over a family feud arose against him from the mother’s side.

“It destroys your world, it destroyed her dad he’s affected everyday, every time he sees her,” said Mrs. Goodwin.

Despite the losses caused by this terrible event, Goodwin has overcome and learned from what happened to her. The best lessons life has taught her came from coming out of this tragic incident alive.

“The best life lessons came from this, I’ve learned just because someone has an injury like this you aren’t different or an outcast at all,” said Goodwin.

Goodwin can still do almost everything anybody else can do. She used to be bothered by people’s reactions and comments about what happened but with time, that too has passed as she has grown.

“It used to bother me when they asked but now I just say ‘here’s what happened, I got over it, life goes on,’” said Goodwin.

Today as a senior Goodwin will get to graduate with her class and move on to eventually get a job and support herself.

“Seeing her today and how far she’s come, its a complete miracle that she can do anything,” said Mrs. Goodwin.