Gerbil-crash victims hold no malice for young driver

PLEASANT GROVE — Janna King can still feel her left big toe, like she stubbed or scraped it.

Her second toe has been acting up as well, sending twinges of phantom pain through her foot, which is no longer there.

In fact, she's missing all of her left leg from above the knee.

Some days she can talk and joke about it, like when she asked her mom to send over all her socks that don't have matches.

But other days, just the mention of a missing limb is too much.

"You mourn a leg almost like a person," she said, her voice quivering a bit. "I don't know how to explain it."

The 29-year-old from Utah County casually touches her stump as she talks about her incoming prosthetic, and how she'll try to resume a previously active lifestyle as an athlete, outdoors enthusiast and professional tree trimmer.

There's no anger or bitterness when she talks about the accident on June 17.

She and co-worker Patrick Jensen, who work for Darrington Tree Experts, were jump-starting a truck along the side of state Route 51 in Springville and were almost finished when a driver veered off the road and slammed into the back of the first truck.

King was pinned between the two trucks and remembers seeing Jensen, 29, fly off to the side of the road.

She was told later that the 17-year-old driver had swerved because she had been trying to grab her pet gerbil, which had escaped from its cage and was running around the car.

Friends, family members and even nurses expressed anger toward the driver, which King quickly quelled. She said she's saddened by Internet postings expressing bitterness and hostility toward the young woman and her gerbil.

"It never occurred to me to be angry," she said. "The only people allowed to be angry are Patrick and I, and the company. And none of us are angry, so they're wasting their time."

It's better this way, King said. She's glad she wasn't the one who hit someone.

"Physical pain I can heal from a lot easier than mental pain," she said.