A woman involved in a car accident made a miraculous recovery after a metal bar pierced her chest.
Nursing student Janina Akporavbare was driving her car on Highway 10 in San Bernardino, California (USA), when a post cut through the bottom of her vehicle and pierced her chest.
The incident occurred on August 25, 2025. According to the KCBS channel, she said she couldn’t avoid the post due to traffic during rush hour. “I could hear this crunching sound. I woke up and felt something dripping on me. I looked down, and it was my blood,” Akporavbare recalled.
Despite the desperate situation, Akporavbare, who was with her brother in the backseat of the vehicle at the time of the accident, still managed to drive to the shoulder and call emergency services.
Rescuers from the Loma Linda Firefighters Association quickly arrived on the scene, but Akporavbare knew her chances were slim. “I remember thinking, ‘I’m going to die now. This is it for me,'” she told KCBS.
While being transported in an ambulance to the hospital with the post still lodged in her abdomen, Akporavbare remembers asking one of the paramedics to “pinky promise” that she would survive.
Akporavbare arrived at the hospital in under 10 minutes, and after several surgeries, she made a miraculous recovery. “The doctors later told us she had a 1% chance of survival. She survived,” the association said.
She had parts of her liver, kidney, and intestines removed and lost a semester of studies, but she is grateful to be alive. In a letter sent to the paramedics of the association last month, Akporavbare called them “angels.”
“My parents and friends also believe [in that]. You are amazing people to meet. I’m glad God sent you,” she wrote in the letter, shared by the association in a Facebook post.
“We are deeply honored to have been part of her story and beyond words, grateful for her strength and faith. Moments like this remind us that behind every call is a real person,” the association responded in the caption of the post.
After her recovery, Akporavbare is eager to return to her studies and is even more determined to help others by becoming a nurse. “I want to help people like the nurses at [Loma Linda University Medical Center] helped me,” she said to KCBS.
Photos: Facebook. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
