JHHS grad Jennifer Buck survives turbulent senior year

On Sunday, May 18, Jackson Heights High School senior Jennifer Buck was fully focused on making sure she looked good when she crossed the stage in the JHHS gym to pick up her diploma.

It’s a long way from where Buck, daughter of Steven and Janell Buck of Soldier, was less than six months ago after a traffic accident south of Soldier left her fighting for her life as a JHHS senior.

On Dec. 4, 2024, Buck was severely injured in a single-vehicle traffic accident that occurred on Kansas Highway 62 just south of 238th Road, about four miles south of Soldier. It’s an accident that she doesn’t remember much about, except that it severely disrupted her senior year at JHHS.

Buck said it was a miracle that she was able to recover from the accident as quickly as she did and resume her senior year, even though the accident has had lingering effects that still plague her to this day. But as she prepared to walk the stage in the JHHS gym and accept her diploma from Jackson Heights school board member David Holliday, she felt happy that those effects were “about 85 percent” behind her.

Her resilient spirit led the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association to recognize her with the KBCA Courage Award, one that she feels humbled but also honored to accept.

“I felt honored,” she said. “But I also felt like I didn’t deserve it, because there are people who have gone through a lot more than I have. And I went through a lot.”

Buck, who was heading to an early morning basketball practice at JHHS on Dec. 4, was driving south on K-62 when the pickup she was driving reportedly hit a patch of black ice, skidded on the roadway and rolled over a few times, ejecting Buck through the sunroof.

She was taken to Stormont-Vail Regional Medical Center for treatment of her injuries, which included several fractures to her skull, collarbone and face. Members of her family rushed to Stormont-Vail, where they were confronted with some heartbreaking news as Buck lay in an intensive care unit bed.

“They really didn’t expect me to live,” she said. “The first two days I was in the hospital, they started prepping my parents on what they call ‘the organ walk,’ because they were thinking I wasn’t going to make it.”

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