COLLINS, Mo. -- It was a landmark moment in Terry Vert's life, that spring day last year when she revisited the spot where she had lived a turkey hunter's worst nightmare.

Exactly a year earlier, the farm near Springfield was filled with chaos. And Vert was at the center of that scene.

She could see herself, badly injured after being shot by a 14-year-old boy who had fired at movement in the brush. And she could picture the Life Flight helicopter landing in the field, the ambulance that had pulled into a clearing, the emergency paramedics scurrying around.

She was lucky to be standing there a year later, and she knew it.

So much had changed in her life. And this return to the place where that journey had started was just one more step in the healing process.

"It was surreal, standing there on that ridge, looking down on the spot where everything happened and reflecting on the past year," said Vert, 47, of Springfield, Mo.

"The woods were so peaceful and beautiful that day, and the turkeys were gobbling. But just a year earlier, things were so different at that exact spot.

"I remember thinking about how grateful I was to be there. It really was a special moment for me."

May 8, 2005, Mother's Day, started with great hope and anticipation for Terry Vert.

A new turkey hunter, she had already taken one bird that spring. And in the closing days of Missouri's spring season, she was intent on getting her second.

So she got permission to hunt from a landowner not far from Springfield, scouted the property, spotted turkeys and woke up early the next morning intent on heading to the spot where she had seen them.

"The landowner told me that no one had hunted turkeys on his land in 10 years," Vert said, "so I thought I would have the place to myself."

But as she slipped through a patch of cedars on the way to her intended hunting spot, she learned otherwise. First, she heard a blast. Then, she felt her arm drop to her side and her gun drop.

"At first, I thought my gun had misfired," she said. "But I'm always real careful.

"I don't even chamber a shell until I set up. I didn't know what had happened."

Moments later, she realized she had been shot. A 14-year-old boy, accompanied by his uncle, had committed turkey hunting's cardinal mistake: He had fired at rustling in the brush instead of first identifying his target.

Vert felt a burning sensation in her arm, but didn't think she was hurt that bad at first. But she soon learned differently.

She had taken the full brunt of the shot from 32 yards away. She had multiple pellets in her, affecting major organs such as her heart and lungs.

"After a while, I started having trouble breathing," she said. "My lungs had been ruptured.

"But I stayed calm. The other hunters helped me, and I was able to call for help with my cell phone."

Vert's account of the accident was backed by reports from the Missouri Department of Conservation, which investigated the incident.

Vert was rushed by helicopter to a hospital in Springfield, where she was in surgery for several hours. Surgeons worked to repair major organs and found that both of her lungs had collapsed and three pellets were in her heart sac.

But Vert was a survivor. She went home in a week, feeling lucky to be alive.

"If the boy had been using a bigger shell, I don't think I would be here today," she said.

Some people would get as far away from turkey hunting as possible after going through what Vert did.