Ashley Diaz juggles a lot. She’s a single mom of a 6-year-old while holding a full-time job.

“I’ve always enjoyed helping people,” Diaz said.

Her passion to help others led her to become an emergency medical technician for five years. She wanted to be a nurse, but that dream came to a halt two years ago.

Police said on Sept. 15, 2022, Diaz was getting into her car when she was hit by another vehicle driving down the street near her home on Staten Island.

“My leg was split, completely split open — and I’m like, okay, this isn’t good. Amongst other things. Like, I realized I was bleeding in my mouth. I lost my teeth and I couldn’t really move my arm, but I just was focused on the leg and I’m just like, okay, like I need 911 right now,” Diaz said.

Doctors amputated her right leg. She was in a coma for two weeks. In that time, she endured 12 surgeries and caught a number of infections. When she woke from that coma to discover her leg was gone, she said she had one person on her mind: her then-4-year-old son.

“For my son — I’m like a kid at heart. Like, I love to run around with him. I love to jump on the trampoline and I love to go to the park. I love to go and swing with him and all these things. And I’m like, how am I going to do this now?” Diaz said.

The love of her son, she says, helps her push through the pain, the discomfort of her prosthetic leg and all the other mental hardships that come with this reality.

“Thankfully, my son, kids in general, are resilient, but my son is. He’s been so good, so understanding, so helpful. You know, he prays every night for me to get better,” Diaz said.

At the time of the incident, Diaz worked as an EMT in Coney Island. The nonprofit Tunnel to Towers paid for a remodeled bathroom, as well as a stairlift to help make her apartment handicap accessible.

While her life may be forever altered, she says her mindset remains the same.

“The situation is never going to be better. It’s always going to be what it is. But my mentality of how I look at it as it changes, you know what I mean? That’s when you get better and you maneuver it better,” Diaz said.

She still works as an EMT for the fire department but now has a desk job, which she embraces.

“When you survive something like this, you just have to keep thinking it was for a reason,” Diaz said.