St. Albert woman hit by a vehicle at work undergoes double amputation

A fundraising campaign is underway to help a St. Albert woman who had both of her legs amputated above the knee after being hit by a vehicle while at work.

A 23-year-old woman recently went through a double amputation after being pinned by an SUV while working her landscaping job last week.

The family of Raelyn Janssen said she was taken to hospital where both of her legs were amputated from above the knee.

While Janssen is expected to recover, friends from the local fitness community are raising money to help with her future recovery.

“She’s not the type of individual that is going to say ‘poor me’ and give up on her ambitions,” said Landon Crowter from Supplement World in St. Albert. “She’s the type of individual that is going to take this and turn it into a positive.”

Landon’s store is donating every dollar from protein shakes to Janssen.

“She’s in the store almost every single day grabbing a shake on her lunch break,” he said. “I know how much she loves (them).”

The Den Fitness is also contributing to Janssen’s recovery with a GoFundMe and is putting half of every drop-in admission towards the fund.

Owner Braeden Miller said Janssen was dedicated to her goal of becoming a body builder.

“That’s incredibly tragic and detrimental with everything that’s gone on,” said Miller. “The incredible part of this is that (Janssen) is alive … we were very grateful when we heard she was going to make it.”

Gym members were also encouraged to sign a hoodie that will be given to Janssen.

“We consider this gym a family, and she’s a very, very integral part of this family,” said Miller.

Police said charges are pending in the incident. Occupational Health and Safety is also investigating.

RCMP Cpl. Troy Savinkoff said driver impairment has been eliminated as a factor in the incident and that officers are investigating to determine if there was any criminality involved.

“This is a really, really tragic thing,” said Savinkoff. “It’s frightening because here is somebody who’s working, doing yard cleanup, working for a company, and now tragically their life has changed significantly.”

He said the man in the SUV remained on scene and fully cooperated with officers.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Nahreman Issa