‘Overwhelmed With Gratefulness’: Model Who Walked Headfirst Into Airplane Propeller Now A Mother

Model Lauren Scruggs Kennedy and her husband, former E! News host Jason Kennedy, welcomed a baby named River about six weeks ago.

Scruggs in 2011 walked into a spinning airplane propeller in the dark. She survived the tragedy but lost her left hand and eye.

“I’m just overwhelmed with gratefulness and so glad I’m here,” the new mother said, according to Inside Edition.

Scruggs had to have numerous surgeries following the incident, and recently battled new fears, namely being a mother with only one hand.

“How am I going to be a mom with one hand?” the model questioned.

Surfer Bethany Hamilton, who lost an arm to a shark attack, assured her friend she’d be able to handle it.

“She was like, ‘Lo, you will just figure it out,” Scruggs recalled. “It will just come to you and you’ll know.’ It really has been that way, truly, your body just figures it out and it just becomes so natural.”

The model opened up about the life-changing incident back in 2012.

“I remember getting into the plane, and I was kind of fearful,’’ Scruggs told TODAY host Savannah Guthrie. “I didn’t know why. I just felt like something was going to happen, and we landed and I thought that was interesting because I was just thinking we were going to crash. I just remember my feet touching the ground, and that’s all I remember.’’

The sunny then-24-year-old, who has a prosthetic hand and left eye, said losing her hand was the biggest challenge she faced, but her “joy” and “compassion” have only strengthened.

“I think the hardest thing is just losing my hand, because it just changes your life and you have to learn things in new ways, but it’s also a good thing and a positive thing because you appreciate life a lot more,’’ she said. “I feel like my joy in life has intensified, my compassion for people has just strengthened. I have compassion that I wouldn’t have had before.’’

“I’m feeling really well,’’ Scruggs said at the time, just one year after the incident. “I’m still doing rehab every day. They’re actually just working me out very hard. I love it — off all pain medication, and just spiritually I feel a lot deeper in my faith.”

“It’s amazing the way your body just kind of does what it needs to do. Things that are really difficult at the beginning I don’t really think about it anymore, and they’re easy to do, so I’m thankful for that,” she added.

H/t The Daily Caller