Magnolia native Lakyn "Lak" Stroder, 16, has been recovering well since her accident last year.
In March of 2022, a pizza delivery truck accident caused severe injuries to then-15-year-old Lak. Lak was on a surprise birthday trip with friends and family to Okaloosa Island when the accident occurred.
While crossing the road at a crosswalk, she was hit by a vehicle traveling around 40 miles per hour, throwing her about 30 feet away from her initial position. Lak suffered multiple injuries, including a broken femur, pelvic fractures, carotid artery laceration, sacral fracture, liver and kidney lacerations, lung bruising, concussion and cartilage tear in her knee.
Following surgery to repair her femur, Lak experienced a stroke due to a blood clot dislodging and traveling into her brain, causing damage to the right hemisphere, responsible for speech and cognition. Her family was informed that there was a 95% chance that Lak may not be able to speak or be cognizant.
After her skull was surgically removed to reduce swelling, Lak had to be intubated for surgery and to allow her lungs to heal.
Her recovery was difficult, and her mother, Elaina Jones, who is a nurse at Magnolia Regional Medical Center, recounted how every update from doctors and nurses was devastating.
After several days, Lak woke up and communicated effectively, and her family petitioned for insurance to facilitate a flight to Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock. On April 4, Lak was admitted to the hospital, where she began rehabilitation.
Lak's grandmother Barbara Hicks White said that it was a miracle that Lak survived everything.
In May, Lak returned to Magnolia and she spared no time getting back to the things she enjoys. Before the accident, she loved to volunteer at the Columbia County Animal Protection Society and although she cannot volunteer, she still loves to visit. She attended the Blossom Festival last May and had her art on display at the Magnolia Arts Center. She also won Grand Champion at the Columbia County Fair & Livestock show with her rabbit named Cheese Sticks.
In November, she had a successful surgery to replace the missing part of her skull. Just a month later, she helped decorate and rode in the CCAPS Christmas Parade float.
Lak is currently non-verbal, which has been difficult for her since she still understands what people are saying but has difficulty speaking. She expressed that this can be frustrating.
"Right now in speech therapy, she's working on how to order her own food. She's been very discouraged because she doesn't really see the progress that she's made... They're trying to make goals that Lakyn has set for herself versus goals that other people have set for her," Jones said.
"Numbers," Lak said.
"She wants to relearn how to read and do her numbers and stuff again. She got some worksheets that you can work on in class," said Jones.
Jones said that one difficulty Lak has been facing is that her issues with speech and communication are not visible disabilities and that people will judge her without taking the time to understand what is going on.
Lak agreed that judgment of her invisible disabilities had been hard.
She has also been getting back into pageants and recently passed her written driver's test and received her permit.
According to Jones, since Lak received her driver's permit, she has been looking at cars. Lak is currently looking for a Honda Accord but she wants to have a Jeep later on.
"This last pageant that she just did she found herself. She called me at 3:45 (a.m.) and said 'pageant, me.' 'That's what you want to do, a pageant?' I asked. She said 'yes.' I said, 'That's okay, it's 3:45, you've got school tomorrow and I've got an 8 o'clock conference call. Let's go back to sleep and we'll find you a pageant tomorrow.' Then she hung up on me."
Half an hour later, Jones' phone rang again. On the other end, she heard Lak repeat, "pageant, me." White agreed again to find a pageant for Lak to compete in.
At 6:30, the phone rang again.
"I said, 'I know you want to do a pageant. I'll help you find a pageant.' She said, 'No, me,'"White recalled.
She realized that Lak had already found a pageant to compete in. When she checked her phone, she saw that Lak had sent her information about the Miss Magnolia Blossom Pageant, which doesn't have interview or talent portions.
"I said, 'You do realize that this pageant's not in Magnolia, it's five and a half hours from home?' She said, 'Yeah.' I asked, 'Do you still want to do it?' She said, 'Yeah.' So we went to Springdale and did a pageant," said White
Jones said , "We went to Springdale twice that week."
Lak responded, "Yeah."
Lak won best personality, first-runner up in her age group and overall supreme photogenic at that pageant.
Jones said, "She made some friends at the pageant. The girls in her group were awesome. She gets excluded a lot because she can't carry on the conversation like everyone else, but the girls backstage were talking to her and asking her questions and two of them have invited her to go with them to do pageants in their hometowns."
Lak is currently planning to compete in the Festival on the Rails Pageant, the Hogskin Holidays Pageant, the Magnolia Blossom Festival pageant, and any others she can find.
When not performing in pageants, working in therapy or studying at school, Lak loves to spend time with animals.
She still has her rabbit Cheese Sticks, plus two pugs, Gus and Maze, and a cat.
Jones said that Lak has been trying to talk her into getting miniature Silkie chickens.
Lak emphatically responded, "Yes!"
She has also helped raise deer, opossums, raccoons and more.
Jones said that if she could, Lak would have her own animal shelter.
Despite her love for animals though, she also loves hunting and eating animals.
White said that Lak is the best hunter in their deer camp and, "She likes to show the guys up."
Lak responded in agreement.
She also enjoys watching "Jane the Virgin," and "Grey's Anatomy" and listening to Murder Mystery podcasts. According to Jones, Lak is obsessed with the disappearance of Magnolia woman Bobo Shin and has done history projects on the case.
Lak's personal goals for the next year include being able to drive by herself, learning to read and write again, relearning her numbers, and being able to text again.
Lak has been an inspiration to many in Magnolia, including Danny Cheatham, a grandfather figure to her.
"She is the center of his world. He loves that girl more than anything in the world. When I came home from Florida, he had dropped 20 pounds and we thought that it was that he was so worried about her. She is the reason he did chemo. He always said, if he ever got cancer, he would never do treatment," White said. "That's his inspiration. He loves her more than anything in this world. That's her buddy. She was his shadow. He's the one that taught her to drive and taught her to shoot and introduced her to hunting."
Jones said that they are very thankful to the community for all of the donations and help they have received over the last year. She hopes that people will learn from Lak's story to watch out for pedestrians when driving.
She said she also hopes people will take the time to speak with her and be patient, because even though it can be hard for her to communicate, she understands what's going on and is hurt when people don't take time to actually speak to her and understand what she is going through.
Although health insurance covers most of Lak's medical expenses, between therapy, visits to Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock and an upcoming surgery to remove a metal rod from Lak's leg, her family still has a lot to pay for, including gas. Her family has started a GoFundMe, which local residents can donate to by visiting gofundme.com/f/help-lakens-recovery-from-traumatic-injuries or the Luv 4 Lak Facebook page.
Lakyn Stroder poses with the awards she won at the Miss Magnolia Blossom Pageant. (Photo Courtesy of Elaina Jones)
Lakyn Stroder's artwork was on display at the 72nd Annual Magnolia Art Show. (Joshua Turner / Banner News)