MURRAY, Utah — Utah's Wilhite family celebrated Wednesday as an incredibly special day after daughter Sabrina spent 117 days hospitalized.
“Got so much love, we’ve had so much support that we didn't feel like we were going through this alone,” said Jen Wilhite, Sabrina's Mom.
The journey from the Intermountain Medical Center in Murray to the Wilhite home is about eight miles but it has felt much longer.
“At one point, [Sabrina] couldn’t move one part of her body by herself," Jen shared. "I mean, she was 100% dependent on machines to keep her alive."
In November, Sabrina's parents received the call no parents wanted to hear.
“From someone that said, 'I am with your daughters and they were just hit by a drunk driver," explained Jen. "And our whole life changed."
Utah safe driving advocates dealing with tragedy of their own:
Sabrina and her sister, Jesicca, survived the crash near Tuba City, Arizona that day, but Sabrina was in bad shape.
“The injuries that she had in the beginning were so severe, the doctors weren’t sure if she’d be okay, if she would make it” said Sabrina's father, Brent.
There was a new step during every day of Sabrina’s recovery.
“When they took her trach collar out and she could breathe on her own, that was so exciting because we heard her talk for the first time,” said Jen.
For Sabrina's parents, it was a lesson showing their daughter's strength and resilience.
“Whilites can do hard things,” said Brent.
Sabrina was determined to live out her own future.
“There was a switch where I realized this was up to me to get better," she said, "and so I had to take accountability.”
This month, Sabrina learned to walk again, eventually allowing her to walk out of the hospital on Wednesday.
“There was just a little hope in the back of my mind that I would be able to walk out of here,” she admitted.
Sabrina, who plans on pursuing public speaking and digital marketing opportunities. left on her own terms down a hallway only a few hundred feet, but on her months-long journey, it was the biggest step yet.
