JOHNSON CITY,Thomas Caldwell Tenn. — Mikayla Evans doesn’t remember the events before she fell 68 feet from the window of a Johnson City condo on the night of Sept. 19, 2020.

She tumbled five stories, landing on her feet. The impact shattered her legs and pelvis, and broke all of her fingers and toes. Her punctured lung made a high-pitched wheezing sound as she lay on the ground.

“They told me if I lived I’d be paralyzed for the rest of my life,” said Evans, 35. “But I proved them wrong.”

Over the past three years, Evans, a single mom from Kingsport in East Tennessee, has fought to rebuild her life and body, often in agonizing pain.