It appeared she also would spend Christmas in the hospital. But signs of progress allowed doctors to give her family a special gift.
Greenwaldt's best gift Thursday was not under the tree. It was simply being able to sit around the tree with her family.
"It's a different situation," Greenwaldt said. "But this year has been by far the best (Christmas) I've had."
Greenwaldt is living at Pitt Memorial Hospital right now. She has been in and out since September, going through rehab, trying to walk again.
Her doctors decided to let her spend a few hours at home for Christmas.
"Oh, it was just awesome," said Greenwaldt's father, Donnie. "You want your family to be together for Christmas. If for no other time of the year, you want to be together for Christmas."
Mallory was to return to the hospital Thursday night. Doctors may let her return home for another visit on New Year's Day.
In September, Mallory was working at a Rocky Mount convenience store when two men walked in and started shooting. Her two co-workers were killed, and she was paralyzed from the waist down.
"I'm getting some feeling back," she said. "I'm getting some feeling in my feet."
Said Donnie: "She's made great progress."
Mallory has big goals for the year ahead.
"I'm hoping to get out of this chair," she said. "I really want to get out of it."
She also plans to go to court and testify against Antonio Perry and Orlando Brockington, the two men charged in the shooting.
"They've made three people's lives terrible, and now it's their turn," she said. "They should have to suffer like we did.
"It's not fair for them to get away with it and us not."
But for Thursday at least, Greenwaldt enjoyed a quiet holiday with her family and gave thanks for her second chance at life.
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