OREM — Pamela Beavers doesn't remember stepping into State Street in fall 2004, being hit by a car and tossed 40 feet in the air or the two months she spent unconscious in the hospital.
She only knows that when she woke up, her life was changed forever.
Some of Beavers' ballet students watched from the dance studio when the ambulances arrived — and all were struck by what happened. After the accident, the dancers helped her family any way they could, cooking dinners and making quilts, among other things.
Now, to raise money for some of Beavers' medical expenses, the dance company for the Academy of Ballet in Orem will perform at a benefit concert Monday at 7 p.m. at Orem High School, 175 S. 400 East.
"(Beavers' accident) was such an eye-opener for me," said Sara Judd, a 15-year-old sophomore from Orem High who organized the event. "As dancers, I think we feel invincible. . . . You never think anything will go wrong. But dance is such a gift. Why not give back what she's given me through dance?"
Beavers taught ballet in Utah for only two months before the accident — but Judd says she will be forever touched by that short time.
"The day she came in, it was as though I'd had her (as a teacher) for years," Judd said. "It was so much more than a job for (Beavers). She wanted us to succeed. She wanted to connect with us as dancers and as girls. She wanted to be a part of our lives, and she came in on the first day like that."
Beavers has struggled on the long road to recovery.
She has no feeling in her legs or her left hand; she's blind in her right eye and has half vision in her left. And she's in constant pain.
For her part, Beavers says she was in her "glory days" right before the accident, having performed as the Sugar Plum Fairy en pointe in "The Nutcracker" the previous year. She is also the mother of five children — two girls and three boys — all under 13.
"More than anything, all I've ever wanted was to be able to teach ballet and be a good mom and take care of my kids," Beavers said. "Those are things that I'm trying to do, but it's really hard to do with my injuries and my disability."
During therapy, Beavers discovered that her ballet training helped her move her body in ways she couldn't normally. Since then she has continued to use ballet as therapy.
She has also started teaching again, working with a girl with muscular dystrophy.
Judd organized the benefit to raise money to pay for medical procedures that could help Beavers' condition but that she is not able to afford.
Beavers hopes a University of Utah research project involving a hyperbaric oxygen chamber will help her. The treatment, which costs $1,500, involves sitting in the chamber and inhaling a concentration of pure oxygen.
The process is supposed to help the brain heal, Beavers said.
So far, Judd has collected $2,000 from ticket sales and donations.
"I am overwhelmed and I'm so grateful," Beavers said. "I don't even know how I could show my gratitude besides just telling her thank you. I'm so very, very grateful she's doing this for me."
If you go ...
The Academy of Ballet in Orem will perform at a benefit concert called "Love Seats for Pamela" at 7 p.m. Monday at Orem High School, 175 S. 400 East. Proceeds will go to Pamela Beavers, a dance teacher who was severely injured in a 2004 accident.
E-mail: achoate@desnews.com