JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A girl who was stabbed 17 times.
A bicyclist who was hit by a garbage truck.
A teenager given a 6% chance of survival.
All of these people had slim changes of recovering, let alone living.
Thursday, they were altogether, celebrating life at HCA Florida Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville for a Trauma Survivor's Day Reunion.
Madison Schemitz was surrounded by family and friends there.
It was less than a year ago when investigators say Schemitz, 17 years old at the time, was stabbed 17 times by her ex-boyfriend at a Mr. Chubby's Wings restaurant in Ponte Vedra Beach. Her mother, Jacquelyn Rogue, was attacked that day in June 2023 as well.
"You don’t see an act of violence of that magnitude very often," Battalion Chief Brian Mitzel said. He was the first St. Johns Cunty Fire Rescue first responder on the scene.
The attack left Schemitz with two collapsed lungs and paralyzed from the chest down. But her story, and recovery, didn't end there. Thursday, she was one of eight trauma survivors from different cases at the reunion.
Resilience was displayed when Schemitz got out of her wheelchair on stage to stand at the podium.
These patients gathered at HCA Florida Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville to reunite with rescuers and with medical care provides, such as occupational therapist Samantha Duncan.
"To have met Madison is to know the epitome of resilience," Duncan said.
She told the crowd in the auditorium, "I have a lot of heroes. They’re all in this room."
These people met each other during some of the worse times of the survivors’ lives. Each one of them has an remarkable story of survival. Thursday, they celebrated living and recovery.
Victoria Corlazzoli was hit by a garbage truck while she was bicycling. She spent 30 days at HCA Florida Memorial. She spoke to the crowd, Thursday, "The fact that I’m here today, I want to attribute that to everyone in this room."
Caitlyn Sowell, 17, was a passenger in a vehicle that struck a stationary object.
Brian Callaham, 62, sustained head injuries as a passenger during a vehicular wreck.
Ayden Bush, 18, was involved in a rollover wreck and had traumatic injuries.
Roy Walsh, 28, is a cyclist who was struck by a car.
Jake Brown, 19, was given a 6% chance of survival who has made a dramatic recovery from serious traumatic head injuries.
Schemitz said to the fire rescue team, helicopter crew, and hospital medical staff, "You not only kept me alive but you kept my mom alive. In the end, it keep my family alive and whole." She paused, and said in a muffled cry, "What the heck. I don’t cry."
Schemitz had goals while in the hospital. One of them was to return to Ponte Vedra High School for her senior year. She did that, and she was also this year’s prom queen. She graduates from Ponte Vedra High School Friday.
