High Fives Non-Profit Foundation — Attraction in Truckee

High-fives provides an amazing opportunity to get additional rehabilitation and support for returning to skiing after spinal cord injury.

I’ve been an avid skier, equestrian and outdoor adventurer most of my life. It’s been a part of how we’ve raised our kids and we’ve all enjoyed being outdoors. I grew up in Montana before moving to Minnesota when I was 13. In the last few years I’ve been spending more time back in Montana when my schedule allowed.

I had a ski accident on March 7, 2023 in Big Sky, Montana. It was a fluke – which is what an accident is – but it is hard to come to grips with the idea that everything changes in one moment. We were on a blue run heading down for lunch and I caught an edge that sent me into the air. I flipped over and landed in a way that the helmet didn’t protect. As an emergency room physician, I unfortunately knew on impact that I had broken my neck.

I was taken by Ski Patrol down the mountain and was immediately air-lifted to Bozeman Deaconess Hospital. They were able to get me into a Halo to relieve the pressure on my spinal cord and I went into surgery overnight to deal with an exploded C5. They fused the back of my neck from C3-C7. My spinal cord was not severed, which was the hopeful news at that point.

I was in the Bozeman hospital for almost a week, and thanks to what seemed like many miracles I was accepted to Craig Hospital in Englewood, Colorado. They are one of the best in the nation for spinal cord rehabilitation and it’s an incredible facility that I had never heard of prior to this accident. I was transferred on a stretcher by a medical jet to Colorado on March 15th. At that time I had almost no movement in any of my extremities.

I spent 12 weeks at Craig Hospital. I was fortunate to have a team of family and friends who came to stay and participate in therapy with me at Craig for the entire 12 weeks. I worked hard to regain as much neurological connection to my extremities through Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy as possible – capitalizing on the opportunity to work with the therapists and equipment in that environment.

There’s a scale for spinal cord injury called the ASIA scale. When I was admitted to Craig I was an “A” which means no movement below the level of injury. At the end of the 12 weeks I was able to get to a category “C” which felt like a major accomplishment based on my original intake status. I now have movement in both of my arms, a little more control over my upper body and a long way to go.

From there I spent two weeks in Craig's outpatient facility, starting to apply what I learned in OT and PT in a more independent environment. I left Craig Hospital on June 15th in an electric wheelchair, flew on a commercial flight, and returned to Minnesota to a new apartment since there was no way to make my home accessible.

I’ve been in a profession where I unfortunately have seen a lot of catastrophes and the impact that they have on patients and their families. No one ever expects that something like this will happen to them or someone they know. That’s how it should be. I am grieving the life that I had before while remaining hopeful.

With spinal cord injuries, they say you have two years to recover as much movement as you can through work and determination. I intend to think of this journey as the most important work of my life so far. High Fives will help to make this...

The High Fives Foundation have created a profound and lasting sense of purpose and hope out of senseless random accidents and suffering. Unless you or someone you or someone you love has experienced a severe spinal cord injury, it is impossible to understand how devastating they can be. I suffered a spinal cord injury while I was skiing that nearly killed me and left me paraplegic. There will always be a BEFORE time and and an AFTER time. BEFORE, I worked hard all week, all month, or all year to help others and spent as much of my off time as possible skiing, hiking, diving, wakeboarding, paddling, exploring, and having fun. "Work hard, play hard." AFTER, so far, has been extremely difficult. I spent months just focusing on survival and basic skills, hospitalized. In the months following the injury, my life was all about rehabilitation, but no matter how hard I pushed myself, the improvements leveled off and it began to set in that I was not going to get much better. I'm still struggling with that. I'm fortunate to BE ALIVE, but I really only FEEL ALIVE when I'm outside wheeling along a bike trail, out on the water, or out in nature. Unfortunately, the adaptive equipment required to do something as simple as hand biking down a bike trail costs thousands of dollars. You can't go to Wal Mart and buy a $200 bike for a paraplegic. I feel trapped in a body that doesn't work anymore. I long for exploration, adventure, outside exercise, and freedom, but it is hard to justify spending money on what seems like a selfish luxury when I already am spending money on adaptive modifications on everything for daily life, my ability to earn a living is so much less than it was, and I'm drowning in medical debt. I feel guilty that I need help every day from the people I used to provide for. I know it is a lifelong sacrifice for them to keep caring for me. The High Fives Foundation has been a game-changer. Complete strangers, many of whom with similar stories or worse, have donated a grant that will purchase a hand bike attachment that will allow me to be outside and feel alive again, and I'll be able to have fun with the people I care about again. I started following a guy on Instagram who was injured around the same time as me, and he went on some excursions with the High Fives team, and his posts inspired me to keep pushing myself and to apply for the grant. We never met in real life, but he was in the same hospital with the same therapists and doctors at the same time. The hope High Fives gave him has now spread to me, and I hope that I will be able to inspire others to donate or to accept help. The people at High Fives are dedicating their time, passion, energy, and money to help people like me be able to focus on actually enjoying life instead of simply surviving . I am now inspired, hopeful, and I am...

November 20, 2020. The early season stoke to snowboard was at all time high. Lookout Pass on the border of Montana/Idaho had just received a fresh coat of snow and was open for the second weekend in a row. I arrived early to the parking lot in order to avoid waiting in line to purchase a lift ticket. I sit on the back bumper of my car and begin to stretch and partake in my "suit up" routine. I finish stretching and grab my boots to put them on the same way that I do every time. Grab my board and I head off to the chairlift to indulge in the froth! I take multiple runs to warm up my legs before meeting up with a friend after lunch. Once meeting up with some friends, the stoke was elevated. We went up to the top and waited for a new run to open up. Once the ski patrollers opened the run, we all went as fast as we could through the fresh powder. We pulled to the side of the run to wait for some friends to catch up when we saw a previously been hit jump. Without thinking twice I committed to catching some airtime. Little did I know, my life would change forever. I have snowboarded for 22 years, the last 10 years have been dedicated to honing my craft in park, big mountain riding and backcountry. Over the years I have developed quite a reaction to falls, but for some reason...this time was different. My board must of caught on a rock and my body hurdled forward towards another rock. My eyes went black for a millisecond and that was all I needed.. I knew something went terribly wrong. I was life flighted to the nearest hospital and directly into surgery. I sustained a spinal cord injury, with a T7 - T12 fusion. I was thankfully admitted to CRAIG where I heard of High Fives and got in touch with Roy over a video conference call with other patients at CRAIG. This was the beginning of hope for me. My life had changed forever but the support and generosity of High Fives gave me hope to carry on with a full head of steam. The grant that the foundation had awarded me will help me drastically change my outcome from this injury. It will not just help me physically get stronger, or just lighten the financial burden but will help my mental health to look forward to better days ahead! I have nothing but respect, love and compassion for this foundation! I am honored to be an athlete representing High Fives! Thank you from the bottom...