In 2003, Pender graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in theatre from Florida State University.
[1] Pender appeared on several network program broadcasts as an actress and in numerous media reports on her accident and recovery.
Pender was a passenger in a white Lincoln Town Car on her way to a charity event when a refrigerated container tractor-trailer overloaded with avocados overturned on her vehicle in the westbound lanes of the Dolphin Expressway in Miami, Florida.
After being rushed to a hospital with life-threatening injuries, Pender momentarily died in the operating room but was resuscitated by medical professionals.
Pender underwent months of surgeries and physical therapy to begin her multi-year recovery from the accident.