BLOUNT COUNTY., Ala. (WIAT) – A retired Blount County teacher’s life changed forever in 2021 when she was hit by a car while out on a run in her neighborhood. Clo Mallory was awarded $12 million in a lawsuit against her insurance company, All State, after they argued she was at fault for the accident.

“When you see how she presents herself, you can just tell she’s a kind-hearted, gentle, soft-spirited person,” says Bishop.

What started out as a jog like any other along White Oak Trail left avid runner and former teacher Mallory with 20 broken bones and permanent brain damage.

“Here’s this person who’s spent her whole life devoted to teaching kids in the community to she’s gone from that to in her years that she should be enjoying her retirement, she doesn’t even know who her kids are, doesn’t recognize her grandchildren,” says attorney Brandon Bishop.

“We had to communicate with her son, who is now in the position of being about our age and has a mother who is now a child to him, he’s her guardian and that’s where it was before trial and that’s where it is now,” says attorney Andrew Moak.

For nearly two years, Mallory’s family has fought for justice. In October of 2021, Mallory was hit by a car while jogging, fracturing 9 ribs, 6 vertebrae and her pelvis. She also suffered what her lawyers say is irreversible brain damage.

“We now know because we litigated the case, she was decked out in neon yellow. She had a neon yellow runner’s hat on, she had a neon yellow t-shirt on and she was jogging in her neighborhood,” says Bishop.

Bishop and Moak say her insurance company claimed she was at fault for running on the wrong side of the road, meaning running in the same direction as oncoming traffic.

“She had a lot of friends that came to support her. One of them in particular that testified that in thirty years of running together training for marathons, they never ran with their backs to traffic. They would’ve never done that because they knew it was dangerous,” says Moak.

“She didn’t have any orthopedic injuries to the back of her body, much less on the back left of her body,” says Bishop. “So for the insurance company’s theory about how the accident happened to have been true, that would mean that the medicine, the opinions of the physicians at UAB and the objective nature of her injuries were not true.”

Since the accident, Mallory requires around-the-clock care as she’s unable to communicate or take care of herself. Her lawyers say they hope the money from this lawsuit is able to provide some relief from the burden that comes from 24-7 medical care.

Mallory’s son Brett released a statement reading:

“Our family is eternally grateful to the first responders, the doctors and nurses at UAB hospital for the care they gave our mother after the accident.  Without them, she would not be with us today.  We are all relieved that the trial is over and that we can start to move forward with additional care for our mother. Although she will never be the same, we know that as the athlete she was, she would want to continue to work hard to recover.  We would like to thank all of our friends and family for supporting us through this difficult time.”

Mallory’s son says he wants everyone to remember his mom as she was before the accident.