STUART, Fla. (CBS12) — Nearly three months after a wrong-way crash left a longtime pediatric ICU nurse paralyzed, her family is still waiting for answers — and for accountability — in a case where no criminal charges have been filed.
Rebecca Engle, a 34-year veteran registered nurse and Stuart resident, was critically injured on the evening of Nov. 30 in a violent collision on SW Kanner Highway near SW Beverly Terrace in unincorporated Martin County.
Rebecca Engle, a 34-year veteran registered nurse and Stuart resident, was critically injured on the evening of Nov. 30 in a violent collision on SW Kanner Highway near SW Beverly Terrace in unincorporated Martin County. (Rebecca Engle)
According to a Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) crash report, a vehicle traveling the wrong direction entered westbound lanes on State Road 76, triggering a chain-reaction crash. The sequence ended when that vehicle crossed into Engle’s lane and struck her SUV head-on.
Engle suffered incapacitating injuries and was airlifted to HCA Lawnwood Hospital.
A life changed in an instant
Engle had been driving home from Target after buying Christmas presents. She planned to help her daughter with a college application personal statement that night.
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She never made it home.
When Engle didn’t arrive as expected, her daughter checked the family’s Life360 app and saw her mother’s location stopped along the side of the road. Calls went unanswered.
Thinking her mother may have pulled over to help someone — something relatives say was typical of her — Engle’s daughter called her brother, a cadet with Martin County Fire Rescue, and asked him to check.
Instead, he arrived at the crash scene just as his mother was being airlifted away.
From nurse to patient
Today, Engle is a quadriplegic. She has no feeling from the chest down. She can move her arms but has no sensation in her fingers and cannot care for herself independently.
The woman who once worked long shifts caring for critically ill children — and spent her free time volunteering, gardening, weightlifting, and supporting her children — now spends her days in a bed or a wheelchair.
“She’s the one who never sat still,” her family said. “Now she can’t do anything for herself.”
Rebecca Engle, a 34-year veteran registered nurse and Stuart resident, was critically injured on the evening of Nov. 30 in a violent collision on SW Kanner Highway near SW Beverly Terrace in unincorporated Martin County. (Rebecca Engle)
For the past four years, Engle worked as a pediatric ICU nurse at HCA Lawnwood Medical Center — the same hospital where she would later be treated as a patient.
Doctors have classified her injury as an incomplete ASIA B spinal cord injury, meaning some sensation remains below the injury site, but movement is severely limited — a diagnosis Engle understands deeply given her medical background.
Despite the severity of her injuries, her family says Engle remains determined.
A woman of deep faith, she believes she will regain movement in her fingers and hopes one day to walk again.
Her goals, they say, are simple but profound: to walk her children down the aisle and hold future grandchildren.
Lawsuit filed, no arrest made
Earlier this month, Engle and her husband, Kevin, filed a civil lawsuit against Steven Herrera Valdez, the driver identified in the crash report.
The complaint alleges negligence and claims, in a civil filing, that the driver was under the influence at the time of the collision.
However, the FHP crash report shows no alcohol or drug testing was conducted, and suspected alcohol or drug use is listed as “unknown.” No DUI arrest has been made, and Herrera Valdez has not been criminally charged in connection with the crash.
Engle’s attorneys say the lack of an arrest raises serious questions about accountability — particularly given the documented wrong-way driving and the catastrophic outcome.
“This case is about accountability,” the legal team said. “A woman who spent her life saving others has lost nearly everything — and her family is still waiting for answers.”
Demanding answers
Engle, her husband, and their attorneys are scheduled to speak publicly Wednesday afternoon during a news conference at their Stuart home.
They say the goal is not only to share Rebecca’s story — but to call attention to accountability in serious crashes where lives are permanently altered.
“This isn’t just about a lawsuit,” the family said. “It’s about answers. And making sure this doesn’t happen to someone else.”