Forever changed: Fossil Ridge graduate's remarkable transformation from incredible tragedy

Larimer County Road 3F is as idyllic a ribbon of road as you'll find, with lilac bushes and apple trees dotting the narrow asphalt and stunning views of the Poudre River below and snow-capped Rocky Mountains above.

It was on this quaint stretch in south Timnath where six teenagers recently released from school for the summer jammed in an open air 2003 Jeep Wrangler for a joy ride after serendipitously meeting up at Timnath Community Park.

Minutes later, the quiet evening of June 1, 2020, was pierced by the roar of an unusually fast-moving vehicle, screams and finally the crash of the Jeep running through a split-rail fence.

Just like that, six young lives were forever changed.

Try as he might, Edward Settle says he can't shake the sounds and sights from when he pulled up to the scene just down the road from his apple orchard.

"I recognized some of the boys, and one was stunned and dirty, one girl was screaming in pain and another had grass in her hair but looked to be fine,'' he said. ''Then I saw a guy, who I think was ex-military because he was calm and collected, and he was sitting with his legs crossed with a girl's head in his lap.

"I tell you what, I would not have taken a bet that she would have gotten on a stretcher.''

At the time, Rielle Artis' face was so disfigured that Settle had to be told who she was despite being friends of the Artis family and knowing Rielle (pronounced REE-el) as a friend of his daughter.

But just shy of two years from lying unresponsive and unrecognizable in a stranger's front yard, Rielle walked across the stage at Moby Arena on the Colorado State University campus on May 21 to receive her diploma from Fossil Ridge High School.

A miracle? Many who saw her that evening swear by it.

A life marred? Those living with her say without question.

This is Rielle's path from incredible tragedy to remarkable transformation.

'She's not going to look like your daughter'

Kimberly Artis drove from the family's Fort Collins home to Timnath to drop off her then-17-year-old daughter at a friend's house for a sleepover at 6 p.m. that day. An hour later she received a call from Life360 dispatch center, an app that tracks the location of family members, informing her that her daughter was in a crash.

She hung up and repeatedly called Rielle's cellphone but there was no answer, so she called her husband, Gabe, and told him to go to the location.

Finally someone answered Rielle's cellphone.

"One of the moms of those in the crash answered, and I could hear sirens and screaming and she was like, 'Don’t come, don’t come,' '' Kimberly said. "I said that I need to know what's going on, and she told me that Rielle had already been put into an ambulance and they were taking her to MCR (UCHealth Medical Center of the Rockies).''

She relayed the message to Gabe, and the two met at the Loveland hospital, convincing themselves the crash was not serious.

That illusion vanished as soon as they arrived at the emergency room.

"I could hear one of her friends in the hallway crying and screaming, and I knew that Rielle was in trouble,'' Gabe said.

More: Fossil Ridge student fighting for her life after 6 teens ejected in underage driving crash

Kimberly said it worsened when hospital officials asked her and Gabe for identifying marks on Rielle's body.

"I started thinking she was dead,’’ Kimberly said.

They sat nervously in a room for more than four hours while doctors worked to save Rielle's life. Then a doctor prepared them for what they were about to see.

"He said, 'She’s not going to look like your daughter,' '' Kimberly recalled. "When we finally got in and saw her, both of us just start bawling, and I’ve never seen Gabe bawl.''

Rielle had suffered multiple fractures to her face and spine, her brain was bleeding in multiple locations and her brain stem was bruised.

"Her face was broken,'' Kimberly said.

Rielle was the most badly injured passenger when the Jeep, which according to Kimberly's Life360 app was going 66 mph on a posted 25 mph road, failed to negotiate a curve. It swerved and hit an embankment, ejecting all of the teens, none of whom were wearing seat belts, according to a Colorado State Patrol report.

The report indicated speed was a possible cause of the crash but drugs and alcohol were not.

All of the teens, four from Fort Collins and two from Timnath, were taken to area hospitals with minor to life-threatening injuries.

'My daughter might die right now and I can’t even touch her'

For 3½ weeks, Rielle was in a coma at Medical Center of the Rockies' intensive care unit.

She fluctuated from periods of stability to "all of a sudden all the bells and whistles are going off and nurses are running into her room,'' Kimberly said. Numerous times they stood off to the side, sending prayer requests on their cellphones while doctors and nurses kept their daughter alive.

"She would be going through these crazy storming episodes where you couldn’t even touch her because they didn’t want us to stimulate her,'' Kimberly said. "And you’re thinking, 'My daughter might die right now and I can’t even touch her.' ''

Slowly, Rielle's young mind and body began to heal.

After waking from her coma, she was transferred to Post Acute Medical in the Sloan's Lake Rehabilitation Center in Denver. There she was in a vegetative state, appearing to be awake but nonresponsive to commands.

AJ Artis, Rielle's brother, said the first time he was able to see his sister served as a wakeup call as to how bad the crash was and how much work she had ahead of her.

"I didn't want to see her, but I knew I needed to because the first time I saw her I really didn't know if it was going to be the last time I saw here,'' he said.

Rielle spent three weeks at Post Acute Medical relearning how to swallow, talk, crawl and walk.

"She was back to a newborn baby phase at this point in a 17-year-old kid’s body,’’ Kimberly said.

In August 2020, Rielle was moved to Craig Hospital in Denver, known for its rehabilitation of patients with traumatic brain injuries and spinal cord injuries.

More: Fossil Ridge High School's Class of 2022 graduates at Moby Arena

There, Gabe said the doctors told them Rielle would not remember anything about the crash.

"It has been the one blessing out of this whole thing,'' Gabe said. "A lot of her friends who witnessed and were in it have experienced so much trauma from it, and they are struggling with it every day. She has been spared that part of it.''

Kimberly, who works at U.S. Bank, and Gabe, who works at UCHealth, took turns staying in Denver with Rielle. They praised their employers for allowing them time to spend with her. The family used proceeds from a GoFundMe page that raised more than $44,000 to help them with living expenses during the four months Rielle was at Craig Hospital.

They estimated Rielle's medical bills at more than $2 million, nearly all of which they said was covered by insurance.

They said countless friends and others donated gift cards, made meals and built them an outdoor deck to accommodate Rielle. Fossil Ridge High School and Poudre School District were very helpful in Rielle returning to the classroom, they added.

'My heart just bled for that mom'

Rielle returned home Nov. 20, 2020. Her first day back at Fossil Ridge was March 22, 2021.

The latter date was three weeks after the painful court proceedings, in which the driver of the Jeep, who was 15 at the time, received a sentence of 45 days in juvenile detention and two years of probation for his role in the crash.

Kimberly and Gabe said there was a lot of anger toward the teen driver before the sentencing. Afterward, they had a change of heart, especially after Rielle stood up at the sentencing and gave a victim impact statement that hinged not on vengeance but forgiveness.

"All I saw when he was being taken away was my child being taken away in handcuffs and realized he (the driver) suffered for his part,'' Gabe said. "Yes, Rielle will suffer for the rest of her life, but I could no longer be angry at him.''

Kimberly said it was a turning point for her.

"His mother wasn't even able to say goodbye; my heart just bled for her,'' Kimberly said. "There was a change in perspective after walking out of court that day that it wasn’t just our life that got rocked that day of the accident; there were so many others.’’

'I forgive you, it’s OK'

Most importantly, Rielle has forgiven the driver.

Enough so that at this year's prom in April, she, the driver of the Jeep and others involved in the life-changing ride engaged in a group dance.

“I saw him and I said, 'I forgive you, it’s OK,' '' Rielle said in a voice softened from the effects of months with a tracheotomy tube and permanent brain damage. "Now I see him as a friend. He didn’t do it on purpose.''

Rielle isn't afraid to look back at her life before the crash. Gabe said she "tortures'' them by posting old TikTok videos of herself singing, which she did in the school choir.

She enjoys looking at old photos on her cellphone, including a goofy one of her at her friend's house just before the crash and with family members at the crash site on the one-year anniversary.

And she's not afraid to look at her future.

More: Childhood friends return home to coach baseball at Fossil Ridge, Fort Collins high schools

After graduating May 21, she will spend two years at Cooper Home, a Poudre School District program where she will learn everyday skills such as cleaning, cooking and driving to help her toward her goal: "I really want to get a job.''

She's given up her dream of being a singer like Selena Gomez. She has a new dream: To become an author like J.K. Rowling.

As evidenced by the miracle she has lived out the past two years, anything is possible.

"It’s kind of impossible in my mind to think that a girl who technically should be dead is living out a life that she dreamed of,'' Rielle said. "I like who I am now, but I like seeing who I can be. That person is not that far from me.’’

Reporter Miles Blumhardt looks for stories that impact your life. Be it news, outdoors, sports — you name it, he wants to report it. Have a story idea? Contact him at milesblumhardt@coloradoan.com or on Twitter @MilesBlumhardt. 

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Fossil Ridge 2022 graduate Rielle Artis overcomes trauma of 2020 crash