LAFAYETTE PARISH (CARENCRO) — A Carencro High School graduate and former LSU athlete is sharing her story of resilience after a jet skiing accident on the Fourth of July resulted in the amputation of her lower left leg.
Katie Guillory, a strength and conditioning coach for LSU’s gymnastics team and a former collegiate softball player, spent the holiday weekend on the water with friends and family—an all-American way to celebrate, but in a matter of seconds, her life changed.
“Something feels weird, something feels off—but I’m not in any pain,” Guillory recalled. “I thought maybe it was one of the life vest straps near my feet or something like that. I don’t really recall, I can’t make sense of it... and then I remember the jet ski coming around, and I went to step up on the jet ski, and I couldn’t step up.”
While riding, a large wake struck her jet ski, causing the tow rope to wrap tightly around her leg.
“Half of my leg is gone, and hanging by the rope that’s intermingled,” she said. “And I am bleeding—very, very, very much.”
Guillory was rushed to Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, where doctors performed an emergency amputation.
“It was hard. It was hard to swallow,” Guillory said. “I’ve been an athlete my whole life and obviously, I’m not an athlete currently, but I’m around athletes, and I train like an athlete. You put so much stock in that identity, and then it’s stripped away from you like this. It just makes you want to evaluate what things in life are really, really important.”
Despite the physical and emotional toll, her mother, Cindy Guillory, says Katie’s strength has never wavered.
“I know it’s mentally, physically and emotionally hard for her—but you would never know it,” she said.
To support Katie’s recovery, her family is hosting a community blood drive on Saturday, Oct. 18, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.at the South College Shopping Center in Lafayette.
While Katie did not require a transfusion, donations made in her name will help cover outstanding medical bills—$30 from each donation will be contributed toward her hospital expenses.
Cindy also expressed gratitude to the Baton Rouge medical team and the community for their overwhelming support.
“I know each and every night, when I lay my head down, that she will be okay—because she’s got so many people who have her back and love her.”
