Lauren Scruggs Accident: ‘Didn’t Expect Her to Survive,’ Takes First Steps

Fashion model and blogger Lauren Scruggs, 23, has taken her first steps after suffering severe injuries to her face, shoulder and left hand from walking into a small airplane propeller, which paramedics say is a miracle as they did not expect her to survive.

Scruggs' is recovering quickly and began walking with the help of her physical therapist. She walked down a hallway in the Dallas hospital Wednesday where she is being treated. According to ABC News, halfway through her first walk, Scruggs told her parents, 30. When they asked what she meant by the number, Scruggs replied, Steps.

Scruggs had been returning from a flight to see the Christmas lights across her state when she climbed out of the two-seater plane at Aero County Airport in McKinney, Texas late Saturday. The 23-year old accidentally walked directly into the small plane's propeller and the blade sliced the left side of her face and shoulder and severed her left hand. She was immediately taken by Care flight helicopter to Parkland Hospital in Dallas.

Peter Wasserman and Luke Dixon, two paramedics who responded to the accident, claim they had never seen injuries as bad as the ones Scruggs suffered.

I could hear her as soon as I got out of the ambulance, so I was thinking maybe not that bad. ... I mean, hey, she's awake, Wasserman told ABC News. Then we got over there and saw the extent of her injuries. It was one of those things that kind of just takes your breath away.

When they brought her to the hospital by medical helicopter, they say they were unsure if she would survive. Wasserman claims the paramedics began to pray once they saw her injuries.

We knew her airway was OK, she was talking to us, answering our questions, Dixon said. So it went to immediately to controlling her bleeding. That was our number one priority in trying to stabilize her.

We honestly didn't expect her to survive, he continued. The extent of her injuries, the lacerations she had to her head, the skull fracture. ... We thought for sure there would be significant brain damage. I was praying as soon as I got there.

Following multiple surgeries over the weekend, Scruggs' face and shoulder have been reconstructed, but surgeons were forced to amputate her hand. Although she is in stable condition, Scruggs remains in the intensive care unit and doctors are still unsure of how the hit affected her brain function and whether or not she will lose an eye.

They're telling us it's going to be a long recovery, Jeff Scruggs told GMA. Obviously she's had a lot of trauma to her head, and she lost her left hand and her left eye is questionable. We're praying she'll regain her sight.

Scruggs is the Editor-in-Chief for an online fashion magazine, Lolo Magazine. She has worked as a part-time model and in the wardrobe department of the CW television Show, Gossip Girl. She recently interviewed Twilight star Kellan Lutz for New York Fashion Week.

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