Hardship is nothing new to Eboni Canion. Before she hit puberty, she was molested by a close family member. Then, in the eighth grade she was raped in the bathroom of her aunt’s house — a traumatic occurrence she believes led to promiscuous behavior like sleeping with different men for the thrill. Eventually, she met a man who she fell in love with and married. While pregnant with their third child, he died in a fatal car accident. Then she ignored the warning signs of a domestic abuser and dated a man who beat her with a shower rod so bad until she bled.
But it was a car accident that left her in a coma for two months and in the hospital for four months that was an incredible story of survival. In her book, Left for Dead, she shares just how resilient she truly is.
Ebony was out one night with her sister and her cousin having a great time. The night was so much fun, the three women decided to go back to Ebony’s sister’s house to continue the evening.
But when they arrived, there was a strange car in Ebony’s sister’s driveway. Soon, they found out that it was not a welcome visitor, and things escalated into an argument.
Ebony was trying to be the peacemaker and settle everyone down, but then she was hit in the face by one of the women in the car.
Her nephew ran out of the house to break up the fight, but even he wasn’t able to stop it.
As the visitors drove away, they purposely hit Ebony with their car and dragged her body down the street 200 feet. She suffered such life-threatening injuries that the doctors believed she wouldn’t be able to talk, let alone walk and be able to do everyday tasks again.
But Ebony was born a fighter, and she was determined to beat every single odd, no matter what they were.
“I suffered multiple injuries. I had a broken leg, pelvis, and dislocated spine (which all have screws and rods in them). Seven broken ribs, a collapsed lung, my left side of my face was ripped up, my tongue was nearly severed. I lost three teeth, the skin on my back was burned off [road burn], so I needed a skin graph. [I had] a small amount of blood on my brain and many scars from head to toe,” recounts Canion in a social media post.
When they said she wouldn’t leave the hospital, she did. When they told her family she would never walk again, she also reached the limit that her insurance would pay, so she could not afford to continue physical therapy sessions. The therapy was for her to get back to doing basic tasks, such as talking and walking again. But with no money available, the therapy stopped. But amazingly, her son, Shawn, volunteered his time to be his mother’s own personal physical therapist and helped teach her how to do everything again.
And now, she is sharing her amazing survival story with…