Teenage girl, 16, who was pushed off a bridge describes long recovery to heal her six broken ribs and punctured lungs as she says she wants the friend who shoved her to finally be sentenced
- Jordan Holgerson was pushed from a 60ft bridge in Washington last August
- Her friend Taylor Smith shoved her from the ledge in front of their friends
- Jordan, who landed chest-first, suffered six broken ribs and punctured both lungs
- Smith, 19, was charged with reckless endangerment and is awaiting sentencing
- Holgerson said she wants the case to be over and has mixed feelings about how Smith should be punished
- The older girl was offered a plea deal this week under which she avoids the maximum penalty of one year behind bars
- Prosecutors have not revealed how much time she would serve, if any, under the deal
The teenage girl who was pushed off a bridge by her friend last summer in a horrifying video which left her with six broken ribs and two punctured lungs has spoken out to tell of her long recovery and her conflicted feelings towards the girl who shoved her.
Jordan Holgerson, 16, was pushed by her friend Taylor Smith from the Moulton Falls Bridge in Washington state last August.
Holgerson was standing on the ledge and had planned to jump but backed out at the last second. Her friends were recording a video of her at the time.
Jordan Holgerson is still recovering after being pushed from a 60ft bridge in Washington State last August by a friend. The 16-year-old suffered two broken ribs and punctured both her lungs when she landed on the water chest-first
She fell 60ft, smacking the water with her chest-first, and was rushed to the hospital.
Smith, who at 18 was two years older than her friend at the time, was charged with reckless endangerment afterwards.
Her case has dragged on since. This week, prosecutors said they had reached a plea deal with her attorneys.
It is not clear how much prison time she would serve under the deal, if any. The maximum term she was facing was one year.
In an interview with Today on Tuesday, Holgerson said she had mixed feelings about how she wanted her friend to be punished.
‘Certain days I kind of want her to be put in jail but some days I think that might be a little too harsh,’ she said.
Holgerson was standing on the ledge with a group of friends, deliberating whether or not to jump, when her friend Taylor Smith pushed her
Holgerson, shown above in the hospital not long after the attack, said on Tuesday that she still suffers rib pain
Some of the teenager’s painful injuries are shown above. Experts said the fall would have been similar to landing on concrete at the speed and height she plummeted at
Taylor Smith, 19, is who pushed the teenager. She said last year that she never intended to hurt her friend and that she was sorry
Smith is shown above in court recently. She was facing a maximum of one year in prison for reckless endangerment but has been offered a deal from prosecutors. The details of that deal have not yet been released
She said she had been hoping for ‘justice’ but that she is now eager for the case to draw to a close.
‘So in court I was kind of hoping for justice and her being sentenced and everything just kind of being over because it’s been a long process,’ she said.
The teenager added that she still suffers pain in her ribs as a result of the incident.
‘Because ribs take so long to heal, every once and a while I’ll turn and they’ll pinch and hurt,’ she said.
Her family said earlier this week in court that they were ‘OK’ with the offer prosecutors had put forward.
Smith, who is now 19, previously spoke out to say she was sorry for hurting her friend and that she had never intended to cause her pain.
‘I never intended to hurt her ever, nor would I intend to hurt anyone, ever. I’m sorry it worked out that way,’ she said.