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Girl Whose Leg Was Severed Remains Positive

FORT LAUDERDALE (CBS4) - October 20th is a day Mindy Pong will never forget.

"The day I found out I didn't know what was going on I thought she had died," said Pong who was understandably emotional recalling the terrifying moment she learned that her sister Monica had been in a horrific accident.

Last Wednesday Monica Pong, 17, had just wrapped up giving a group of eighth graders a tour of her school, Archbishop McCarthy High School in Southwest Ranches, when she was pinned to a post by a car.  Pong said she was going back into a building when a 71-year old woman accidentally put her Toyota into reverse and slammed into Pong.  Paramedics were forced to amputate her badly damaged leg before she was airlifted to the hospital.

"She's been stronger than us, telling us from the beginning, she says 'I'm fine, don't cry, it's okay'," said Mindy Pong who has put her college studies on hold to be with her sister.

"It's painful and hard, you never think it will happen in school," said Pong's father Jarmon.

"My daughter is strong. I think everything will get back to normal soon," said Araya Siripol, Pong's mother.

Mindy says her sister is keeping touch with her friends and is anxious to go back to school, finish her college applications and graduate with her class. Unfortunately, in the accident not only was her leg severed but the knee joint was lost which makes rehabilitation and recovery very difficult.

Her family says Monica's positive outlook will carry her through this life altering event and on to her dream of one day becoming a cardiologist.

On Friday, Monica went from using a wheelchair to learning how to use crutches for the first time. She said she knows the length of her rehab will be up to her and is anxious to get a prosthetic leg and get back to school.

"We're gonna be with my sister every step of the way," Mindy Pong said.

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