Raquel Pennington is thankful that her ATV accident didn’t end a lot worse.
Yesterday (Oct. 27), Combate reported that Pennington was involved in a car accident and broke her leg as a result. The report also noted that she was set to challenge Amanda Nunes for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) women’s bantamweight title. As it turns out, it was an ATV accident.
Pennington explained what happened to MMAFighting.com:
“It happened four days ago. I was on my yearly hunting trip with my uncles and cousins, we were hunting that morning and coming down from the mountain in our side-by-sides (ATVs). It was snowing and when we went to turn the side-by-side flipped. It threw me out the side the same time it was flipping and the roll cage caught my leg and pinned me. My cousin fell out the driver seat on top of me, crawled out the window, and lifted it the best he could so I could drag myself out.
While her leg injury is severe, it could’ve been damaged beyond repair. Pennington is thankful that she’s expected to recover.
“They rushed me to the hospital. Thank God for my tall hunting boots because it protected my leg from fully shattering, which if that happened I would have to get my lower leg amputated. Also, where my bone is broken is the main nerve to your foot; luckily, the feeling came back and I passed the test otherwise I would have [drop foot], never being able to control my foot again. My calf is totally smashed in. Had an MRI of my knee and lower leg, they were worried I tore everything. If I tore from behind the knee they can’t fix it, but results came back and calf is just smashed bad. Should recover and in time the nerves will repair. So three to four month recovery.”
