Bonnie Price: Inspiring teacher learns to run again after traumatic car accident

ASTORIA, Queens (WABC) -- For Bonnie Price, the New York City Marathon is the next step along a difficult road to recovery. After 10 years of running, she was abruptly stopped in her tracks by a distracted driver.

"It was really hard to just start over again," Price said. "To run an eighth of a mile. Then a quarter of a mile and then a half mile."

Her injuries were serious.

"It happened really quickly but, all I really remember is going down and thinking, I can't die. A car just turned into me. I didn't even see it coming. I just felt my body moving really fast."

The impact of the car broke six of Bonnie's ribs.

"One of my ribs was displaced," Price said, "meaning it was broken in two spots and they had to put a titanium plate over it."

Price spent a week in the hospital before heading home to begin a grueling recovery process. She eventually went back to work, teaching special education classes at P.S. 122 in Astoria. It was running that proved to be the toughest challenge.

"Running didn't feel normal for a really long time so I started running one block, just to see how it would feel," she said. "I really had to start all over building up my pace and distance and trying to get back to where I was. I was scared that I was never going to be the same physically."

But as the months passed, her fear was relieved. Her running gradually improved with support from fellow members of the Hellgate Road Runners Club.

Now, just a year after being hit by a car, Price has become a role model for other athletes recovering from traumatic injuries.

"It's possible. You can get there," Price said. "You just have to keep working."