The accident left her horribly mangled.
Her back was broken in six places, her pelvis was shattered and she had severe amnesia, among other injuries.
But Kimberli White Otter considers her car crash a gift. Without it, she would not be doing what she does today.
Otter, along with Eric Dreaming Trout, owns the Otter and Trout Trading Co., a quaint little boutique located at 625 West University Ave. that sells herbal remedies and spiritual trinkets.
Otter had interest in these things before her car crash, though. In her passion for Native American customs, she prayed for accelerated spiritual growth and on Jan. 12, 1996, she got just that.
While driving down a dark highway near Bunnell, Fla., a coyote crossed her path and caused her car to swerve off the road and topple over, ejecting her from the vehicle.
She said she doesn't remember what happened after her car left the road, but she believes she left her physical body.
She recalled going through a white tunnel of light where she felt nothing but peace and bliss. She was surrounded by positive energy, she said.
When Otter returned to an earthly plane, paramedics were on the scene, apparently called by hunters who mysteriously disappeared before help arrived.
After being rushed to the hospital, much of Otter's memory was gone, but she also knew things she never did before, she said.
Otter believes the coyote gave her this transcendence.
"A coyote is symbolic to many of the native peoples as a trickster who teaches through painful and unexpected means," she said. "One of the gifts that came was all this knowledge about herbs."
Otter recovered after just three months with the help of native healers and all sorts of people of different faiths, including Mormons and Wiccans.
Once she was able to walk again, she found herself being able to advise people about different herbal medicines. It was like she had woken up with a world of knowledge, she said.
She also began traveling again and going to powwows. It was there where she met Trout.
Both shared an interest in herbs, and the two soon hatched a plan to start selling their concoctions on their Native American journeys.
Their little business became successful at art shows and pow-wows, but they wanted to settle down and open a store, Otter said.
They got their wish last November when the space in Gainesville they had been hoping for became available. They worked hard to clean the place up with the help from local artists, healers and friends.
It opened its doors in January, and it's grown exponentially through word of mouth and because of curious people walking around, she said.
Otter and Trout can barely break for tea because they are swamped with customers and clients coming in and out at all hours.
"It's really bad around normal business closing hours," she said. "Everyone leaves work and comes here."
She thinks the store is so popular because people "want to get back in touch with their ancient roots, and many people are starving for a reconnection with the earth and getting away from a lot of the chemical and pharmaceutical treatments that they have considered to be methods of healing for so long," she said.
The store offers something for everyone. Even the mailman picks something up every day while he delivers the mail.
Otter said they have something available for just about every ailment, such as stress and asthma, and even offer herbs that help with the side effects of chemotherapy when smoked.
Aside from herbal remedies and oils, most of which they make themselves, they offer and opportunity for "spirituality, self-fulfillment and to become one with the earth," she said.
Otter, who is a certified masseuse, offers her services and herbal consultations to improve lifestyles of others.
Also, starting in February, classes will be offered such as Tibetan yoga, tarot reading and instructional sessions on Wicca for the pagan and non-pagan alike, Otter said.
She said all the classes discuss contraindications so people can determine what is and isn't right for them and to provide everyone an opportunity to find their own method of healing.
But the remedies and classes offered at the store aren't designed to help just one person. Otter hopes the business will spawn collective knowledge to find spiritual bliss.
"I just want to give an invitation to the community to come in and experience something very different and find their own way to inner peace," she said. "I would love for them to share their knowledge and what's given them peace in life to make the world a better place."
