PINE ISLAND, Fla. — Back in April, Nichole Hall lost her leg in a horrific boating accident. Today, she said she wanted to use the hardest part of her life to help others.
Off of Pine Island is where a day out on the water turned into the moments that changed Hall's life forever.
"I remember at one point asking one of the EMTs who saved me if I was going to die later — I found out most people thought that was the case," said Hall.
Watch Bella Line's full report below:
She was thrown from a boat near Matlacha Pass and ended up losing one of her legs, and part of her hip. That's when she was flown to Gulf Coast Medical Center.
"When we first saw Nichole, it was, you know, one of those moments that you're like, 'Oh, my god, she's alive!' said Dr. Joseph Lewis, the trauma general surgeon on her case. "People that have the injuries that Nichole had, don't make it to the hospital."
Dr. Lewis and the rest of Nichole's medical team would spend the next seven months treating her. She had what he describes as morbid surgeries.
Dr. Lewis says Nichole is the only documented case of someone having a Hemipelvectomy from a boating accident, meaning she lost part of her hip and leg.
"Once we did the initial stabilizing surgery and removing part of her pelvis and the leg after that, that was really all Nichole really took grit and determination to get through it and to stay incredibly positive,” said Dr. Lewis.
The grit and her positive attitude guided her through learning how to walk with a prosthetic leg.
Eventually, she was able to walk down the aisle of her best friend's wedding, meet her newborn nephew, and make a community of other amputees in the area.
"Trying to find something good in my day, and I think that's some encouragement for other people going through this as well,” said Hall.
Starting in January, Nichole will start helping other trauma survivors as a mentor through Lee Health. She'll help people get through the unknown when becoming an amputee.
"I'm just still Nichole and I think you know, whenever you're talking to an amputee or looking at them, that's the biggest thing, that they still are who they are,” said Hall.