Jordyn Wettstein
Story by Michael Harris, photos by Anthony Rao
The doctor looked at Jordyn Wettstein’s x-rays and asked his nurse if they were the correct x-rays or that of another patient. They were indeed Jordyn’s and indeed just weeks after an auto accident, she was ready to get back in the pool.
Jordyn, a 16-year-old rising junior at Tavares High and competitive swimmer, suffered internal injuries and a shattered left leg when her Trail Blazer was hit by another truck and rolled on County Road 561 near Astatula on April 2. 
The accident with the flatbed truck sent her SUV into a telephone pole. Her injuries included a lacerated liver, brain contusion, a broken left leg and a torn trapezius muscle.
“And I chipped a tooth a week later and I think that happened because of the accident,” she says, as if that was the worst thing that happened to her.
Her statement about her tooth being chipped signifies that her bright personality is at 100 percent … and as far as swimming or walking or doing everyday things, she’s at about 90 percent.
“I still wear a walking boot, but not for swimming,” Jordyn says.
The injuries she suffered healing in a somewhat quick recovery is a testament to her drive and will to rebound. Even her mother, Amanda, was surprised.
“She was so far ahead. She was supposed to be in the cast for 10 weeks and it was just about 6,” Amanda says.
But Jordyn has been overcoming injuries for the past seven years. At age nine and again at age 11 she had shoulder surgeries. Last October she had a dislocated shoulder while swimming.
“Then I decided it would be fun to wreck my car,” she says sarcastically.
When talking about the accident her memory gets fuzzy, but what she remembers and a picture of her wrecked SUV shows a pretty horrific accident.
“It was one of those perfect places at the perfect time accidents. I don’t think NASA scientists could recreate it,” Jordyn says.
It was just days after the accident that Jordyn attempted to get up by herself and go home. Of course that wasn’t happening.
But when she did return home, she needed to get caught up with school. She even told her mother she was able to go to school. That wasn’t happening either.
“She was still not real coherent and not real functional,” Amanda says. “We did finish the school year at home.”
In the first week of June, Jordyn returned to the pool and rejoined her teammates on the Fast Lane Swim Team at the National Training Center in Clermont. Her coach Alec Rukosev, was also impressed by her comeback – which now tallies four comebacks in her career.
“She’s doing great things to come back and this is a goal lesson for the future,” he says. “You go into a hole; you have to try and come out. It could have been much worse, but in the long run this will be good for her to be mentally healthy in life.”
Mentally healthy is something Jordyn seems to be already strong at. For example when she first had thoughts about the accident, she wondered whether it would have been serious or just a fender-bender and what her mother’s reaction was going to be.
“Either way,” she says with a smile, “I was going to be injured.”
But now just to make sure a serious accident doesn’t happen again, this is the last of Jordyn’s “comebacks” steps. Although Amanda’s first reaction was probably to put Jordyn in a World War II Sherman Tank, the end result is not far off.
“I have a huge Toyota Tundra now,” Jordyn says.
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