Janel Grant has revealed that she recently suffered serious injuries in an accident while delivering a speech after receiving the 2026 Advocacy in Action Award from the Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence.
Grant, a former WWE employee who filed a federal lawsuit against WWE and Vince McMahon in January 2024 containing allegations including sex trafficking, shared her acceptance speech on Instagram.
Speaking about the concept of power and the support she has received, Grant said the people who have entered her life through her advocacy work ultimately helped save her following the accident.
“A prevailing theme in the world right now is around power… the powers that be, powers at play, gaining it, reclaiming it, inner power, the use of power…
Power might instill in our minds the idea that nothing in the world ever really changes.
Everything is stuck. Until the day something looks new and feels different. (Maybe it looks like…)
The power of synchronicity is when the right people meet at the right time, circumstances can manifest that didn’t exist before. Mountains can move. A new path can suddenly light up. A village can form to help a stranded person in need and save that life.
Around six weeks ago, the life they saved was mine. What you’re witnessing right now is a giant miracle in progress. It’s taken a village of people and a collective effort to stand here alongside you.
The power of an NDA nearly took my life. I’ve survived one, two, three, four years of daily atrophy across every part of life: my physical health, mental health, holding a job, a support system, safety, strength, finances, stability in everything. And I worried about an accident happening to either me or my cat because I’m alone. She means everything to me.
Around six weeks ago, my worst fear happened. I had the serious accident. I tripped on the hard edge of a carpet runner and fell forward into a wooden bedframe/wall unit with floating cabinets. Everything that happened after is a blackout until the day I was being driven to the hospital out of concern for my well-being. I’m healing a concussion, broken ribs, a lung hemorrhage, a busted-up face, I bit through my lip, and from what’s been pieced together, I’m lucky to have a pulse.
The more I learn and reflect on those first three years of disconnection, the more stunned I am by the evolution of life this year. To meet the Alliance. To advocate for a legislative bill. To join Instagram. To connect with people at all changed and saved my life.
Having that perspective is powerful. The people who just saved my life weren’t around me to witness my injured state, but they sensed I needed help. They made calls, cast a net, and did things I can’t remember because I was concussed. Some of them have only had my number for a few months. How they treated me in that moment, when I needed help but didn’t know it, reflected what’s in their hearts, like compassion, patience, and human kindness.
So anytime I hear or read the sentiment that nothing in the world ever really changes, I smile knowing just how much it actually has.
There’s power in acknowledging multiple truths that can exist in any moment. Everything from my bones to my bank account are still broken. Any problem I had yesterday will be there tomorrow. But I’m standing in gratitude, and it feels like a joyous, hard-won, defiant, against-the-odds, honest celebration of life and the power of the Alliance.
I’m still here. Still breathing. The power of my worst fear realized turned out to be proof of a new beginning. It took a serious, a serious accident to realize—finally—that I’m not alone. It’s powerful to realize I stopped counting the days, and now I’m making the days count.”
Grant said the accident occurred approximately six weeks before the speech and that she is recovering from a concussion, broken ribs, a lung hemorrhage and facial injuries.
Her remarks also addressed the impact she says a nondisclosure agreement had on her life and the support network she has developed through her advocacy work.
Grant’s lawsuit against WWE and McMahon remains a separate legal matter. The allegations contained in the complaint are allegations and have not been established as fact by a court.
