Crash Victim Meets Crew Who Saved Her Life, Plans On Running In 50 States

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- It's not every day that you get to meet the people that saved your life.

"It was like a really, really bad dream and um it wasn't a good moment and you wanted to panic but there's the voice inside my head and then there was the firefighter... he was there the whole time...He talked me through it," said Jennifer Grey.

Two years ago Grey, an avid runner, was airlifted after a serious car accident in Miramar. Emergency surgery doctors told her she would never run again but she proved them wrong.

"It's great to see you running again. Most people with your level, unhurt, never get back to high-level activity. It's good to see you doing so great," said Dr. Daniel Chan.

"When people come back from what you come back from, physically and emotionally and they come back stronger...then it's really inspiring to all the other people," said Trauma Doctor Andrew Rosenthal.

She hit the pavement hard again, even after suffering a major loss but this time with a new metal plate in her hip and a bigger purpose in her heart.

"After my mom passed away, after her suicide, I came up with this idea I'm gonna go run through 50 states and show people that even though emotionally that you can be down that spiritually you can be down...you can keep going...I compare running to life," said Grey.

She now plans to run all over the country to bring awareness to mental health issues, something that hits close to home for those in fire and rescue uniforms.

"This year, that we know of, 130 firefighters and EMTs committed suicide. That's a number that's increasing every year. It is a major wake-up call for us," said Jose Gregorisch with Miramar Fire Rescue.

That issue is part of the reason she created this motto: 'Don't give up, you are not alone.' She lives that out every day.

Grey is dedicated to her mission to bring a half-marathon to every state in the country. She's tackling her hometown of Dallas first on October 7th. Anyone wanting to help her out can click here.

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