SOUTHWEST RANCHES (CBS4) - Less than three weeks after her right leg was severed above the knee in an accident at Archbishop McCarthy High School in Southwest Ranches, 18-year old Monica Pong returned to the school to visit with friends and teachers.

Pong, who has made amazing progress since the accident, was released from a rehabilitation center last week, according to The Sun-Sentinel. While still in a wheelchair, Pong also uses crutches to get around. She even manages to climb the stairs to her second floor Hollywood apartment which she shares with her father.

The accident happened on October 20th.

Pong, who had just wrapped up giving a group of eighth graders a tour of the school, was hit by a car and pinned to a column. Police said the driver, 71-year old Marie Baguidy who had inadvertently put her Toyota in reverse, backed up onto the sidewalk and pinned Pong to a cement column near the school's north exit. Paramedics were forced to amputate Pong's badly damaged leg before she was airlifted to the hospital.

Family attorney Jay Cohen told the paper the she is still goes to therapy as an out-patient and has not yet used a prosthetic limb.

Her family says Monica's positive outlook will carry her through this life altering event and on to her dream of one day becoming a cardiologist.

Pong said she knows the length of her rehab will be up to her and is anxious to get a prosthetic leg and get back to school.

An account has been set up to help the Pong family with medical expenses:

The Monica Fund
Floridian Community Bank
5599 S. University Drive
Davie, FL 33328

Source: The Sun-Sentinel