A Parisian model who almost died in a horrific jet ski accident has returned to the runway after a miraculous year-long recovery that left her with metal rods in her arms and legs.
On August 27, 2016, Aya Jones and her boyfriend were jet skiing off the coast of Ko Phangan at the end of their three-week vacation in Thailand when a speedboat carrying hotel guests to the beach slammed into her vehicle.
‘My first thought was the unfairness of it all,’ Aya told Vogue of the accident, which left the now 23-year-old with a punctured lung and stomach, a fractured arm, leg, and pelvis, as well as a cracked skull.
Incredible: After a difficult year-long recovery, the 23-year-old was back on the runways this fall, walking for the likes of Miu Miu (left) and Marc Jacobs (right)
Aya’s boyfriend was the one who rescued her body from the water, and she was taken to the nearby island of Ko Samui for an emergency operation.
After the surgery, she was flown to Bangkok in a plane that kept a low altitude because of her fractured cranium. She woke up in the hospital with her mother, brother, and boyfriend, who explained what had happened to her.
‘I thought, “Why did this happen to me, why I was I in that place that day?”‘ Aya said of her first reaction to the accident.
As a young girl, Aya took years of dance classes and proved to be a fearless gymnast.
As she got older, she was drawn to daredevil sports such as jet skiing and riding all-terrain vehicles — which she noted she is now done with.
Rising star: Before her accident, Anya covered the March 2016 issue of Vogue Spain
She’s go the look: The model posed for a stunning ’70s-themed shoot for Nars Cosmetics’ fall 2016 campaign just a few months before her trip to Thailand
Aya was discovered while shopping with a friend on Rue de Rivoli right after her high school graduation, and she was soon walking the catwalk for Prada’s spring 2015 show.
She was later chose to be the face of Nars Cosmetics, and just a few months after she shot images for the beauty company’s fall 2016 campaign, she was in the hospital in Thailand.
Aya’s mother Beatrice noted that the only time her daughter complained during her year-long recovery was when her brother had to leave Thailand after two weeks.
‘Then she cried for an hour,’ her mom said.
Devastating: Aya, who is pictured two months before the accident, was left with a a punctured lung and stomach, a fractured arm, leg, and pelvis, as well as a cracked skull
Then and now: Aya is pictured walking the runway for Diane von Furstenberg in September 2015 (left) and strutting her stuff for Prabal Gurung in September 2017 (right)
Back to work: A year after the accident, Aya flew to Barcelona to star in a campaign for Mango
While most people would find it torturous to keep track of their colleagues’ success during such a difficult time, Aya insisted it made her happy to see her model friends doing so well, noting that their social media pictures gave her hope that she would one day return to modeling to join them.
When she returned to Paris, it took five months for Aya’s bones to become strong enough to hold her body weight while she was standing upright.
It took her another six months of strenuous physical therapy to learn how to walk again.
When her friend, model Imaan Hammam, visited her in April, Aya told her that she was trying to learn how to walk in heels again.
Recovered: The model enjoyed some time in the south of France over the summer
All smiles: Aya, who is pictured with her model pal Imaan Hammam in May, was left with scars and metal rods in her arms and legs after the accident
Back in the groove: After a difficult year, Aya celebrated her 23rd birthday with friends in September
Aya returned to modeling one year to the day after her accident, flying to Barcelona to pose for an ad campaign for Mango.
Although she has metal rods and arms in her legs, Aya has still retained her natural grace, and the scars on her body from the accident can easily be covered with make-up.
This fall, a few months after she returned to modeling, she was back on the runway, walking for the likes of Marc Jacobs and Dolce & Gabbana during the fashion weeks in New York, Milan, and Paris.
‘I know I have the strength of character to handle whatever is thrown at me,’ she said. ‘And I have 200 per cent appreciation for little pleasures and moments of joy.
‘I know that life hangs by a thread — that everything can stop in a moment. So I’m more grateful than before.’