Sherry Helfer would normally be up to her elbows in dirt at this time of the year, planting and weeding her flower beds.

The Savoy woman is an avid gardener, and runs a plant maintenance business. But she has done little weeding of her wildflowers in the backyard. A bed next to her deck has been weeded and mulched, thanks to her daughter and granddaughter, but it's not planted. Neither is a pot sitting on her front porch.

Helfer is still dealing with the effects of a bicycle accident one year ago today, when she was struck by a sport utility vehicle while bicycling along the Sadorus slab, County Road 600N in southern Champaign County. Her arm is in a splint from a recent surgery – her fifth since the accident.

Helfer was bicycling with friends on July 6, 2009. She was riding last in line behind her two friends when an SUV coming up on them from behind hit her bike's rear tire. She fell and crushed her left elbow and broke two bones in her left arm, her left wrist and her right thumb.

Her life has changed a great deal since then.

"I'm not as active, and when you're not as active, your body changes," Helfer said.

"It's been a very enlightening experience," she continued. "You find out who your friends are, and what's important. And how your life changes in the blink of an eye."

She had three surgeries in the first several weeks after the accident, during which the surgeon reconstructed her elbow with a plate, screws and a new radial head – where the upper part of a forearm bone is aligned with the upper arm bone in the elbow joint, allowing a person to bend his or her elbow and rotate the forearm.

"I had a whole bunch of hardware in there," Helfer said.

A surgery in January removed most of that hardware, other than the radial head. That surgery and the fifth one, in late June, were done to improve her ability to pronate her forearm, or use it with the palm facing down.

She's been doing physical therapy since last summer.

"The progress is slow, but you do see improvements," Helfer said.

She's doing exercises every hour and a half or so during the day, to keep the elbow joint moving and prevent stiffness, and she sets her alarm for 3 a.m. to get up and do the exercises before going back to bed.

Her arm is still weak, and she's developed arthritis in it. It's painful to carry a plate of food in her left hand, and she has trouble using it to lift something out of the oven.

She can't hold her new grandson, born in March. He's the only one of her eight grandchildren who did not receive a blanket knitted by grandma at his birth.

She was able to drive a couple months after her initial surgeries. But after each subsequent surgery, she couldn't drive while she healed.

"When you can't drive, you're so dependent on people. That's the hard part," Helfer said.

"My husband has been wonderful," she continued. "He's stepped up to the plate and not complained about anything. Most of the time."

She's been able to swim, by altering her stroke. And she got back on a bicycle for the first time six weeks ago, at the urging of her doctor, for a ride around her neighborhood with her husband.

"It was very, very emotional," Helfer said.

"My whole attitude about biking has changed. I will never go out by myself," something she often used to do. "And I will never be the last one in line."

Helfer believes the driver of the green Durango that hit her was distracted. No one has been ticketed for the accident. Helfer is still hoping the driver will come forward.

"You wonder how people live with themselves," she said.

"I know there are people a lot worse off," she continued, noting that she is right-handed and it was her left arm that was injured, and her other limbs weren't affected. "Still, it doesn't make it right. I know it was an accident. (The person responsible) should come forward and own up to what they did."

In the next couple of months, Helfer will know what limitations she'll have from now on.

"Before this last surgery, I was very concerned with what will be the final outcome," she said. "Will I live the next 20 years with an arm that is functional, but doesn't do everything it's supposed to do?

"You learn to adapt. 'Normal' will be a new normal."