PAULDING COUNTY, Ga. — The street where a high school student was hit and suffered life-altering injuries now bears her name.
Kendall Thomas was there Friday to see the unveiling of the new street sign that says Kendall Thomas Way at North Paulding High School.
She watched with joy as her parents unveiled the new street name in front of the school.
Kendall Thomas told Channel 2s Tom Jones it’s great that her name will live on forever. But she says she also doesn’t want what happened to her to happen to anyone else.
“It feels so good for people to drive safe,” she said.
Kendall Thomas was 14 years old back in 2022 when a car hit her. She was a football player at the time and was headed to practice on campus when the crash happened.
She suffered severe injuries and had to have two brain surgeries. Doctors thought she would never walk or talk. But she has made an amazing recovery, taking steps and even talking now.
Jones asked her how was she feeling. “Excited,” she said.
Her parents got the idea to rename the street in her honor.
“I never wanted them to forget,” Kendall’s father Kelvin Thomas said.
They wanted to turn what happened to her into something positive.
“So when we pass by here, we don’t think of Kendall lying here unconscious,” her mother Shanna Thomas explained.
Instead, they are working with the school on a campaign that will use what happened to their daughter to keep everyone safe: “People learning how to cross smart and drive safely,” Shanna Thomas said.
There are talks to incorporate the Drive Smart, Cross Smart campaign throughout all schools in Paulding County.
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