An Idaho teenager who was left hanging from a powerline after being catapulted into the air following a car crash after she saw her then-boyfriend kiss another girl has found new love.
Kennedy Littledike, 19, crashed her car on May 22, 2021, when she became emotional behind the wheel while going through a breakup.
The teen, who was 16 years old at the time, was driving back from watching the sunset with two friends when she began crying and veered off the road.
Littledike had been feeling heartbroken after seeing her ex-boyfriend kiss another girl with the pair breaking up just days prior.
She recalled: ‘Me and my boyfriend at the time had broken up two days prior so I was still kind of a wreck.
‘I’m pretty sure I had seen something that day that he was already making out with another girl, so I think that’s what caused everything.’
Kennedy Littledike, seen her with new boyfriend Alec Bingham, had been feeling heartbroken after seeing her ex-boyfriend kiss another girl when she crashed
The 19-year-old was ejected dozens of feet into the air and caught on a power line, where she hung by her broken leg for over an hour
The Idaho teen ultimately lost her leg in the crash but says landing on the power line saved her life, as the electricity cauterized a torn artery and stopped her from bleeding it out
Littledike and her two friends, Nakia Molina and Jacob Rasmussen, suffered serious injuries in the rollover crash that saw all three of them ejected from the car.
Molina was knocked unconscious and Rasmussen was bleeding heavily when neighbors and family members found him.
While both of the teens suffered shattered vertebrae and broken bones, among other injuries, they later made a full recovery.
Littledike was ejected 30 feet in the air, but the way she landed on the power line ended up saving her life.
Despite her serious injuries that could have claimed her life, Littledike has now found love again – having recently celebrated a year with her new boyfriend Alec Bingham.
‘In the process of getting thrown, my arm was actually torn off, was hanging on by the skin on my back, and then my femur was snapped over the wire and hanging in front of my face,’ Littledike said.
‘A lot of people ask, “How did you not bleed out?” Well, the main artery in my leg was pinched off by the power line, and then the main artery in my arm was actually cauterized when I got electrocuted.’
She continued, ‘I remember I was drowning in my blood because it was running from my leg, it was running from my arm, and it was going in my nose, and I was just wiping it out because it was literally drowning me.’
Littledike needed 21 surgeries to treat a broken femur, humerus and clavicle as well as a brachial plexus injury.
‘I don’t know what happened to me in the hospital, but I just had such a smooth transfer from such a bad mental health state to such a positive one,’ the 19-year-old said
Despite her serious injuries that could have claimed her life, Littledike has now found love again – having recently celebrated a year with her new boyfriend Alec Bingham
She also opened up about a hurtful encounter with the ex-boyfriend, who admitted he was scared of her amputation.
Littledike said: ‘The thing that hurt me the most was that boy who broke my heart before came over after I got home from the hospital.
‘I made a joke like, “Oh, does it [my nub] scare you?” and he said “Yeah, actually it does.” It really affected me, and after he said that, I just struggled with it.’
Recalling the incident, she added: ‘(A first responder) just grabbed my leg and had to take it out of the wire, and you just watch my body lifelessly fall on the stretcher,’ she said.
‘They put the tourniquet on and had to take my bone back off the wire. And they said I screamed. And then, once I hit the stretcher, it was silent.
‘I had a total of five amputations because they tried to save as much as possible because the more leg that you have for a prosthetic leg to walk, the easier it is,’ Littledike explained.
‘So they tried taking it at my knee, through my knee. My leg just kept rotting because the bone was broken so high up. Every other day, they were going in and taking more leg.
Littledike needed 21 surgeries to treat a broken femur, humerus and clavicle as well as a brachial plexus injury
Littledike was ejected 30 feet in the air, but the way she landed on the power line ended up saving her life
Littledike has since built a presence on social media, sharing her story and finding humor in the situation
‘And to go under surgery, over and over and over, to get more and more leg cut off. They’d finally just cut it off at the bone.’
The teen recalled the moment her father told her she lost her leg, saying the room ‘felt heavy.’
‘I was like, “Did either of my friends lose a limb?” And he said, “No.” And I said, “Well, I’m glad I’m the one that lost it since I was driving,”‘ Littledike remembered.
‘In that moment, you’re 16 years old. All your dreams that you had in your head, they’re all gone.’
‘Within 20 minutes, I was fine with it. I literally named it. I named my nub Gobi, and I made a whole dance for it. I don’t know what happened to me in the hospital, but I just had such a smooth transfer from such a bad mental health state to such a positive one.’
Since her crash, Littledike has built a social media presence by sharing her story and finding humor in the situation.
‘Before my accident, I struggled with mental health. I wanted to commit suicide. I did not ever really plan my future because I didn’t think there was going to be one. I wasn’t happy,’ she said.
‘I look back and I’m like, “Wow, you’re pathetic.” But because now, look at me. I’m in a whole different, harder situation, but I’m so much happier.’