This weekend, Friends of Animals Utah was having a snowshoe event out at the new Brown's Canyon facility. It was an opportunity for supporters to come out and see how the construction is progressing. One of the board members asked Julie and I to bring someone who needed a ride.
We got to meet an incredible young lady. She broke her neck in a snowboarding accident four years ago and was left paralyzed from her C5 down. She is a quadriplegic and was not expected to regain much motion or feeling. With lots of work, she has regained enough mobility to walk. She can use a laptop with a good bit of extra work.
So, if you suffered such an accident, what would you do? How much help would you need? Expect? She packed up from Australia and came to the US. By herself. To a city where she only had one acquaintance. To train at the National Abilities Center as a snowboarder. Her hope is to get snowboarding in the 2014 Paralympics. She was friendly, easy going and interesting.
Why was she going to the FOA event? She was interested in finding somewhere to do some volunteer work. Some people handle adversity well. A tiny handful seem to go through life as though the adversity didn't even exist.
I feel lucky to have met her.
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And we feel lucky to have her here training with us at the National Ability Center. She's part of a growing trend. This year we have ski coaches from Canada, ski team members from Great Britain, a new snowboard manager from New Zealand, and other participants who have come from around the world! They are all incredibly ABLE!
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