Teen has both legs amputated after being hit by car at Missouri volleyball tournament

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (WKRN) — A Tennessee high school senior was in St. Louis for a volleyball tournament when she was hit by a car Saturday night, resulting in her having both of her legs amputated.

According to St. Louis police, Smyrna High School senior Janae Edmondson was critically injured after being hit by a car around 8:40 p.m. Saturday. Police say a car drove past a yield sign and hit a car in an intersection. The struck car in turn crushed Edmondson.

Two other people in the struck car were also injured.

The driver accused of going through the sign was arrested on charges of second-degree assault.

“She was a catalyst,” said Mid-TN Volleyball Club Assistant Director Jeff Wismer. “A kid who is pretty confident in who she is and doesn’t try to be anything more than what she is.”

Wismer said Edmondson had recently verbally accepted an offer to play college volleyball. He said like so many of his players, this was a dream of hers for a while.

“To take all those steps and in a moment for it to be gone, there’s just no words to try and communicate how you process that setback,” Wismer said.

Wismer said he is sure the same skills that made Edmondson a great volleyball player will push her through the tough times ahead.

“That perseverance, that determination, that capacity to handle setbacks, the capacity to fall back on the people around her,” he said.

Wismer said they didn’t tell the team about the crash until the next evening after all of Edmondson’s family was alerted, and the team continued to play on Sunday and Monday.

“There’s a large sentiment of let’s just be together. Last night, a lot of our teams just shared time,” he said. “There is so much love that we are trying to project back to her right now to offset this sense of loss.”

St. Louis Police have arrested Daniel Riley in the crash. He faces multiple charges, including second-degree assault, two counts of fourth-degree assault, armed criminal action, and operating a vehicle without a license.

According to the arrest affidavit, at the time of the crash, Riley was out on bond for pending charges of robbery. The report also states that Riley had allegedly violated the conditions of his bond numerous times.

Wismer said the road ahead for Edmondson and her family is uncertain at the moment, and he wanted to share what happened to her so that the greater Tennessee community can rally behind her as well.

A GoFundMe account has been created to help the Edmondson family with medical expenses and future needs.