‘The Voice’ Fan-Favorite Wendy Moten Recalls Horrific Onstage Fall: ‘I Couldn’t Use My Arms at All’

The Voice fan favorite Wendy Moten is looking back on her horrific onstage fall as she continues to recover from her injuries 10 months later. Viewers were shocked during the November 23 live show when the singer tripped over a floor monitor, falling hard on both of her arms in an accident that fractured her left wrist and broke her right elbow as well as a bone in her right hand. 

Moten would continue on competing for the next three weeks until the finale, where she eventually was named runner-up to Girl Named Tom. Almost a year later, Moten told PEOPLE in a new interview that she’s still feeling the effects of her accident. “I’ve never been broken before,” Moten, 57, shared with the outlet. “And so, it’s a new experience, but I remind myself that there are people dealing with far more serious things. I’ll be OK. I’ll just keep working at it.”

Looking back at the early days of her injury, Moten called it a “unique situation,” noting, “I couldn’t use my arms at all.” The day after the finale, the Memphis musician found herself in surgery, and now she goes to physical therapy three times a week as part of her recovery efforts. “They put a titanium piece in my elbow to keep my arm together,” she revealed. “Right now, my elbow is still crooked, and my fingers are crooked, but with the occupational therapy and the physical therapy I’m currently undergoing, I’m hoping everything gets back to normal soon.”

Moten, who is now touring with the legendary Vince Gill, said she’s not afraid of a little hard work. “I do the work,” she insisted. “I do the work to maintain a certain level both personally and professionally. I’m expecting these things to keep coming because I enjoy what I do, and I don’t mind working hard.” Growing up as a “super shy” kid, finding her musical gift wasn’t easy. 

“As a kid in Memphis, everybody was a great singer. It didn’t even matter nationality or race or anything like that. Everybody was great. All my friends were great singers and because of that, I never really thought I had anything to offer because I felt like they were all so great,” she recalled. “I really didn’t figure out that I really had something until I was in my 40s.”