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It's been a year since I broke my back.

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Smilemon
Posts: 421 - Karma: 43
     I just realized today, that this Sunday, Feburary 26th, marked one year since I compressed 40% of my T-12 vertebra by overshooting a jump at Snoqualmie. I feel blessed that I can still ski, and have recovered to the point that I completely forgot about such a traumatic event.
     As it was, I spent Sunday in complete bliss, skiing fresh powder at Mt. Baker with members of my college's ski club. It was a great day. I tried a lincoln loop, which I failed miserably, but managed to land my first 360 with a grab.
     While I've managed to move on from my injury--to the point where I almost forgot about it--I'll never forget about the people who aren't so fortunate. When you spend a season in a brace, watching all your friends shred park and pow, you realize how much life sucks without skiing.
     No one should have to spend their life off their boards, and if you are incapacitated to the point where you cant shred, know that I think of you every time I click into my skis or strap into my snowboard. It's my dream to be an orthopedic surgeon, and if I make it through the next 6+ years of school, I promise that skiing and snowboarding related injuries will be my focus.  
     Those of you who have been fortunate enough to not be injured, take some advice from me. Always speed-check your jumps, or follow behind someone who knows the right speed; always have your DIN settings adjusted correctly; don't land backseat; and no matter how proud you are, don't be afraid to ask patrol for help.
     Thanks for reading,
Smilemon


Feb 29 2012 10:35PM
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PNW.
Posts: 80 - Karma: 70
I feel it. I'm out for the season from dislocating my shoulder... at snoqualmie haha
Feb 29 2012 10:38PM
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Smilemon
Posts: 421 - Karma: 43
How'd you do that? I fell like I would have been in a lot better shape if the landings here weren't so Icy.
Feb 29 2012 10:39PM
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CarrotSteeze
Posts: 147 - Karma: 105
indeed man, i broke my leg four days before christmas afew years back, not only did my Christmas that year truly stink, but i missed the best snow of the decade, i never forgot those nor do i laugh at those who come down in the toboggan
Feb 29 2012 10:44PM
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openmindportrait
Posts: 1157 - Karma: 818
I ski Snoqualmie as well. What jump was it. I didn't hear about any injuries like this!
Feb 29 2012 10:44PM
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array.
Posts: 2439 - Karma: 202
proof that snocrummy has shitty jumps. COME AT ME PJS.
Feb 29 2012 10:51PM
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PNW.
Posts: 80 - Karma: 70
Fell off a box with my arm out to break the fall. Shit popped right out. Landings can get pretty hard though, sounds like you picked a bad day to overshoot a jump
Feb 29 2012 10:56PM
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Smilemon
Posts: 421 - Karma: 43
There's a thread about it from last year:
https://www.newschoolers.com/ns/forums/readthread/thread_id/605749/

Sparknotes: It was last year, off a pretty tiny jump at the top of the park. I picked up way too much speed on the ice, and overshot the tranny by about 10 feet.

I don't want it to seem like I'm trying to whine or show off my broken back. I just want everyone to know that skiing isn't something to take for granted If you're lucky enough to get a second chance, don't blow it, ski as much as you possibly can. You don't know when your last day might be.
Feb 29 2012 10:56PM
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Smilemon
Posts: 421 - Karma: 43
Had a friend do that last year. Shoulder injuries suck ass. Hope you make a good recovery.
Feb 29 2012 10:59PM
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Lucas
Posts: 4881 - Karma: 1,575
I ski snoqualmie to! What's your name?
Feb 29 2012 11:04PM
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AJWindybanks
Posts: 45 - Karma: 10
happy to hear that you're back out shredding
Feb 29 2012 11:10PM
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heFF
Posts: 5786 - Karma: 4,456
right on..being injured sucks..seems like you got the shittier end of the stick with the back stoked your healthy again..I broke my ankle last year in november and seperated my shoulder a month ago..gotta put some change in the jar at some point..some are more fortunate than others
Feb 29 2012 11:24PM
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TheHamburglar
Posts: 3895 - Karma: 3,314
props to op for recovering and getting back out there, pretty inspiring. I had the knee surg in june and I'm so fucking happy to be back on skis, even if I look like a bitch for awhile because I can't do any high impact stuff. I hit my first powder lines today & yesterday in like 2+ years, and I am so fucking stoked. never take anything for granted.
Feb 29 2012 11:31PM
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PJS.
Posts: 11943 - Karma: 895
lrn2poppyjumps. n00b!
Feb 29 2012 11:34PM
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POW-WOW
Posts: 1464 - Karma: 46
I've had 2 spots in my L5 vertebrae where my back is fractured pretty bad since I was 11. Definitely holds me up but I know how you feel. Last week was the first time mine started hurting bad when I was skiing, kinda scary...
Congrats on getting back though!
Feb 29 2012 11:35PM
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PJS.
Posts: 11943 - Karma: 895
also, dafuck all these snoqualmie riders coming from?
Feb 29 2012 11:35PM
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Where-am-I
Posts: 1635 - Karma: 281
if you become a orthopedic surgeon you will be seeing many of us as customers
i just had my first surgery with an orthopedic surgeon last Friday and i have a feeling it won't be my last. . .
Feb 29 2012 11:59PM
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Smilemon
Posts: 421 - Karma: 43
High impact stuff is super rough once you have a few weak links in your body. My focus is way more on locking in on rails and finding the sweet spot on jumps than it used to be. I used to just huck myself off of everything, but I find myself using my head a lot more. Thinking about landings, trying to visualize stuff. Glad to hear your skiing though. Grats.
Mar 1 2012 12:20AM
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pghjibber
Posts: 1298 - Karma: 329
you're last paragraph really hits the nail on the head...

i'm almost exactly three years removed (march 3rd) from having emergency surgery on my neck

i displaced/fractured my c4-c5 vertebrae and partially tore my vertebral artery (the same one that sarah ruptured) after completely overshooting/over-rotating a flatspin 7 on a 40 ft jump (that i probably sent 60+) and exploded/whiplashed in the flats where i was out for a few minutes

the whole experience still trips me out when i sit and think too hard about it... why was I so lucky? people have died from those injuries, let alone many become tetraplegics. By an act of god and some of the best doctors in the country, I have literally no after effects other than a minor loss to my range of motion in my neck...

mentally though, the whole experience changed my life... i literally roll out of bed each day and when i stand up i say "thank you" because im eternally grateful for my health and my ability to ski

i can still ski park at the level i was at before the injury... granted it's taken me some time to get all the same tricks back but they're there

but honestly, cherish and ski each day like it could be your last
Mar 1 2012 12:25AM
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grown-ninja
Posts: 3031 - Karma: 175
same man im about 15 months since i fractured my l1 l2 l3 tranverse processes in my back, its better but i still feel it almost every day, good luck to tou
Mar 1 2012 10:45AM
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Eleidecker
Posts: 245 - Karma: 119
ya it sucks, i keep re injuring my broken collarbone, it wrote off this season for me.
Mar 1 2012 10:59AM
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STEEZUS_CHRI5T
Posts: 2923 - Karma: 22,196
if i could thumbs up your thread i would
Mar 1 2012 3:04PM
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