Woman who nearly died in crash reunites with those who saved her life

Gabbriella Manges got a royal welcome when she walked into the hospital Friday

ORANGE PARK, Fla. – No one expected Gabbriella Manges to live after she survived a horrific collision with a garbage truck over the summer on I-295 near the Buckman Bridge.

Her recovery sounds like nothing short of a miracle, even shocking the first responders who helped save her life.

Manges said she still goes to Orange Park Medical Center three times a week for therapy, but she’s improved by leaps and bounds after that accident had her on life-support.

Manges got a royal welcome when she walked into the hospital on Friday, not only from not only hospital medical staff, who worked to save her life, but from the first responders who got her to the hospital on time.

“I mean, look at her. She’s a fully functional healthy adult now. It’s amazing,” said Todd Wimberly, RN Trauma Lead.

“From what we had on the scene to how she is now, I mean, it’s amazing,” Jacksonville Fire Rescue Lt. Matthew Anderson said.

Everyone is in awe because Manges wasn't expected to live.

“It’s definitely nice to see everyone face-to-face for the first time,” she said.

It was June 13 when 20-year-old Gabbriella was merging onto I-295 at the Buckman Bridge from U.S. 17. She was t-boned by a garbage truck and suffered a shattered jaw and other injuries -- and she had to learn how to walk again.

“Unfortunately, I don’t remember my whole month here,” Manges said.

But her mom does.

“It all started here, to all of them, from the paramedics to the doctors and the trauma staff, it's just, it's been a miracle,” Mary Manges said.

Gabbriella Manges is a pharmacy technician at Publix on University Boulevard. She said Publix has extended the hold on her job and is waiting for her to recover and return back to work.