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1 year after Janae Edmondson lost her legs in crash | What has changed in St. Louis?

The Tennessee teenager was hit by a car in downtown St. Louis on Feb. 18, 2023. The driver, Daniel Riley, was supposed to be on house arrest.

ST. LOUIS — Sunday, February. 18, marks one year since a teen was struck in downtown St. Louis

17-year-old Janae Edmondson was in town for a volleyball tournament. She lost both of her legs that day after a car crashed into her. 

The crash left many shocked and raised the alarms of safety in downtown St. Louis. 

Edmondson has shown strength and perseverance through her recovery, and changes in the city have begun. 

Feb. 18, 2023, changed a lot in our city and for one family it completely turned their lives upside down. 

Right now, the same tournament Edmondson was in town for is happening at the Dome and while things may look a little different, advocates like Aubrey Byron with the Community Mobility Committee, believe there's still a lot more work to be done.

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"We've been seeing the reality of what St. Louis streets are like for a long time, and we know that there's lots of tragedies like this all the time that happen to residents," she said.

According to Byron, that reality woke a lot of people up when Edmondson was visiting St. Louis for a volleyball tournament in 2023.

"In a way, it made a lot of people pay attention to what they've been ignoring for a long time," she said.

Edmondson was hit by a car downtown as she was walking back to the hotel with her family.

The driver, then 21-year-old Daniel Riley, was supposed to be on house arrest.

Related story: Janae Edmondson, teen volleyball player who lost legs in crash, sues City of St. Louis

"You don't have to be an activist or an advocate anymore to notice there's something wrong, and everyone's a pedestrian when they get out of their car," Byron said.

The past year for Edmondson has been nothing short of an uphill battle with countless surgeries and physical therapy appointments, but the teenager handled it with grace and perseverance. 

She attended prom, graduated from high school and committed to playing volleyball at Middle Tennessee State University. 

Last summer, Edmondson received prosthetic legs and in October of 2023, she took her first steps

While she's been recovering miles away in Tennessee, change has taken place in St. Louis. The yield sign that Daniel Riley ran at the intersection of 11th and St. Charles became a stop sign, barriers were placed outside the Dome to keep visitors safe for events and Board Bill 120 was passed. 

"We're going to have over 40 million dedicated to traffic calming, which is great," Byron said.

For people, like Byron, that's just a drop in the bucket though.

"We really need a city-wide plan to address this issue of traffic violence, and we'd like to see someone in the streets department dedicated to vulnerable road users' safety," she said.

With a criminal case on deck for next month and a lawsuit filed against the City of St. Louis, Edmondson and her family aren't giving up their fight. 

While many, like Byron, are continuing to work to make sure this never happens again. 

"We need to do something now," she said.

Edmondson's GoFundMe page is over $800,000. You can still help the family out and donate here

Explore St. Louis told 5 On Your Side that 30,000 people were at the tournament this weekend and over 760 teams were represented, which is 100 more than last year. 

Explore St. Louis continues to work with community partners and St. Louis Police to ensure safety downtown for visitors. 

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