A crashing car pinned her to the ground. After escaping death, this woman is rebuilding her life

What started as a regular shopping tripfor Nicole Kieley last May quickly became the momenther world was turned inside out.

In seconds, she was pushed through a pharmacy window by an out-of-control car, nearly killed and left in precarious health. Eight months later, she is recovering, and able to describe the horror of a how life can change in an instant.

Kieley, the deputy mayor of Mount Pearl, was running some afternoon errands in preparation forthe Victoria Day long weekend.It was a Friday. The skies were blue androads were clear.

She was picking upsuppliesat a Shoppers Drug Marton LeMarchant Road in St. John's with the intention of hitting the highway to spend the weekend relaxing at her cabin with family and friends, who were waiting for her arrival.

"You do what you do as a Newfoundlander. May24 is about getting your supplies, getting out of town, getting outside, having some fun,"Kieley told CBC News. "And that was what I wanted to do. Just pop into a store and grab some supplies and back out onto the road."

Kieleyparked her car and walked inside the store. Realizing she had forgotten her wallet, she turned around and ran back outside.

I held onto the hoodand I think that moment absolutely saved my life.- Nicole Kieley

"On my second way back in there was an open parking space that was close to mine, parallel to my car," she said. "I noticed another car, kind of jaggedly going in. It had hit another car coming in and then that kind of, for a second, had me stop and pause."

The car kept coming,directly toward Kieley, who was standing on the sidewalk just outside the store's front door.

Time froze, she said, as she braced for the impact.

WATCH I Nicole Keiley describes how she survived a stunning collision last year in St. John's:

8 months after a terrifying collision, this woman opens up about her determination to survive

8 months ago

Duration 20:09

Nicole Kieley lost her leg when a car slammed into her outside a St. Johns pharmacy last year. Her road to recovery has been long, but she says frustration and pain are part of the process.

"I held onto the hoodand I think that moment absolutely saved my life," she said.

"Because if I had just taken the impact on that point, I would have just fallen back onto the sidewalk, and the car would have kept going right over me."

The driver wasa 77-year-old man, who wasnot hurt in the crash. His licence was suspended and he was ordered to pay a fine.

"I held on as long as I could, and once I was in the storethe little bevel that's holding the glass kind of tripped me up and I fell forward," she said. "[The car] was roaring, that's the best way to describe it."

'Turn the car off. Turn the car off'

The car kept moving, taking Kieley right through the store's front window.

She ended up underneath the vehicle as it squeezed further into the building.

She saidher leg and parts of herbody were wedged under the car as it continued to push forward.

Her head was near the still-spinning wheels.

"I put my hand up. I took a lot of damage on my arm, but it saved my head, it savedthe essential parts of you," she said.

"I had screamed, I think, a couple of times that's your reaction with anything 'can somebody turn the car off. Turn the car off. Turn the car off.'"

'I was out of there'

Kieleyrecallsthinkingshe might not make it out of the situation alive.

Bystanders held herhand andreassuredher that she would be OK. Emergency services arrived shortly after and used an inflatable device to raise the car off of her.

As theEMS crew began to drag her out, her mood shifted.

"Even before that, I started squirming out, whether I was supposed to do it or not. As soon as I felt a release, I was out of there," she said.

"Even in that moment I was feeling, 'Yes, OK, I'm making it and everything after this is just gravy.'"

She had been conscious through the entire event, only blacking out from the medication given to her in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.

The long path to recovery

In hospital, she was put in an induced coma. Herfirst memories after waking were the sounds of other patients andmedical staff and her sister calling her name.

"That kind of perked me up and I opened my eyes," she said.

By that point, Kieleyhad been in a coma for a week. The first faces she saw were her dad and her sister, and their big smiles.

"I was completely grateful to be awake and alive," she said.

"They were going through hell. They had camped out by my side," she said.

"Literally there was a room that my aunts, uncles, friends would use to just sleep. Dad was barely sleeping and they were the ones who had been having those difficult conversations with doctors."

LISTEN | Nicole Kieley tells Anthony Germain what happened the day a runaway car crashed into her:

On The Go13:22Nicole Kieley's recovery - Part 1

An accident pinned the deputy mayor of Mount Pearl under a vehicle. Her leg was crushed, her arm mangled and she was conscious and alert for the hour it took to safely get her out from under it. The first of a two-part interview with Nicole Kieley.

But the realities of her injuries began to sink in.

Kieleyultimately losther left leg above the knee, something she says was a hard decision made between family and surgeons. Her arm was saved.

"Luckily it was less of a decision and moreso a discussion informing it had to be done," she said. "It was going to be the best route for my recovery, the best route for my health and safety and my quality of life."

She said she knew immediately her life would be different.

Changing the mind, changing the body

Her recovery began with a change in mindset.

Kieley said the mental component included realizing that no matter where she was in the recovery process, things will happenone small increment at a time.

That included relearning how to sip from a cup and being able to move her head.

Kieley isnow walking with a cane and new prosthetic leg.She's also regularly training to rebuild her strength.

"Like anything, you're going to have those really difficult thoughts. You work through them. You look at them, you be curious about them, you feel your feelings around them," she said.

"Like anything else, you decide, 'Will I carry this? Or will I just put this down right now?' Sometimes it will come back up. I will absolutely say that's a normal feeling and thought."

LISTEN | In the second part of her interview with Anthony Germain, Nicole Kieley describes her recovery:

On The Go11:36Nicole Kieley's recovery - Part 2

A terrifying accident pinned the deputy mayor of Mount Pearl under a vehicle. Her leg was crushed, her arm mangled and she was conscious and alert for the hour it took to safely get her out from under it. The conclusion of a two-part interview with Nicole Kieley looks at her recovery.

Today she's back at home with her cats,Scully and Mulder, and is relearning the tasks of her previous life, including how to walk again.

"I have fallen. I have experienced frustration. I have experienced pain," she said.

"I'll get to a path again. I'll get to a beautiful walk, outside with nature. I will have my backpack on again. I will get there."

Download ourfree CBC News appto sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador.Click here to visit our landing page.