Former 'Bachelorette' Tayshia Adams was 'completely run over' by a truck in college
Tayshia Adams dealt with chronic pain for years after two brutal accidents. The former Bachelorette lead opened up to Women's Health about what her body went through when she was run over by a truck in 2008.
"I was completely run over by the truck," Adams, 30, recalls.
The incident happened when The Bachelor and Bachelor in Paradise alum was talking to her friends in a parking lot before they were going to a party.
"I stepped on that little pedestal that trucks usually have. I was hanging on to the window, like kind of half in, half out. They were talking about going to a party but I said, No thank you,'" she shares. "My friend who was driving said, 'OK, we're gonna go.' And he started inching the car forward. He stopped, and my other friend in the passenger seat put his arm out and wrapped it around me and was like, 'It's OK, I got you.' Then the driver hit the gas and went over a speed bump, and as he did, my head slammed against the top of the window. It all happened so fast. The next thing I knew, the tire was on my foot, and then over my entire leg."
Adams wasn't sure what happened at first, but when her friends got her up she realized she couldn't walk.
"That's when I panicked and was like, 'Oh my god, I can't move.' They lowered me back down to the ground," she continues. "Another friend who was in the parking lot saw what happened. He came over and said, 'I don't know how you did it, but as you were getting run over, you pushed yourself over a bit.' It’s crazy because the truck was about an inch away from going over my pelvic bone — it would have completely shattered my pelvis. I would have been paralyzed if I hadn't moved."
Adams, who was an avid runner, fractured her pelvis.
"I had to relearn how to walk in the hospital and missed about two and a half, three months of school," she says. "After about two years, I finally got to the point where I could walk 'normally' and not have chronic pain when I sat down."
In 2011, when she was starting to feel like herself again, Adams was hit by a distracted driver.
"It was on the highway — I was completely stopped and the girl behind me was texting and not paying attention and ran into me going 60 miles an hour. "From that point on, I had chronic back pain every single day for about five years. It was worse than I could have imagined. Sleeping was uncomfortable. Sitting in a chair was uncomfortable. Standing up and washing the dishes or brushing my teeth was uncomfortable. Not to get too into the nitty-gritty, but try being intimate with your partner when you're in that much pain...impossible. So it really affected many parts of my life."
Adams, who will co-host the upcoming season of The Bachelorette with Kaitlyn Bristowe, credits a "phenomenal" physical therapist with helping her learn to move her body in different ways. She's even training to do the New York City Marathon with fiancé, Zac Clark.
"At this point, I feel good. But who's to say, if I start running quite a bit, something might aggravate me? Not a big deal. I just have to listen to my body," she adds.
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