Emily Litten was on the sidewalk outside a Blue Line station in Chicago four years ago when she was hit by a semitruck. Her leg was severed. She and her boyfriend went to StoryCorps to talk about the early time of Emily’s physical and emotional recovery process. Emily reflected on how she changed over the four years since the accident.

Bill Healy produces StoryCorps Chicago for WBEZ and teaches journalism at Northwestern University. Follow him @chicagoan.