Known to many as “The Kidd” or “Dibba,” our friend Gregg DiBiaso has been diagnosed with a neural cognitive disease (ADEM), an acute version of MS, which attacks the myelin sheath around neve cords in the brain, slowing down speech and memory retention. High Fives has donated a sum of money for Greg to use to help with the down times of the recovery process. We are calling this the Hope/Dream/Stoke award to be used to keep Greg Inspired through his recovery process.
“Through the use of injections and much hard work I have had some amazing progress but still a long way to go. I went down to UCSF FOR Neurological work and go down again in mid-April for follow up appointments with my fingers crossed and hopefully no new lesions shall be forming and hopfully dissipating exixtiong ones. Thanks High Fives for your help with any that you may be able to contribute!!”
Sincerely,
Gregg
“It wasn’t until after I graduated in College in 2001, that I packed my bags and I headed west for Colorado. It was the years I spent in Telluride that really made me a lover of mountain living. Two years after arriving in Telluride I found myself entering Big Mountain Ski Competitions and began gaining backcountry skills with an Avalanche 1 Certification and starting to ski beyond resort boundaries. Since then I migrated to Jackson Hole where I continued to train for IFSA World Tour events and continued my education with backcountry ski skills, including a winter in Haines Alaska at Heli Guide School and receiving my Outdoor Emergency Care Technician Certification while volunteering with Snow King Patrol, This past fall, I relocated to Truckee, CA hoping to enjoy a longer winter season, some great snow, and sunshine. I began first season volunteering/training with the Tahoe Backcountry Ski Patrol. My hopes were to continue competing and working photo/video opportunities with my sponsors and continue gaining the appropriate skills to eventually become a Ski Guide. On Feb. 6th, I found myself at the ER with pain in my side. I then found out about the tumors I had growing inside me. After numerous tests I was told I have Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer. In less than a months time I was receiving my first Chemo infusion. I was lucky enough to get out skiing between my first and second Chemo cycles and my grin was from ear to ear. My boyfriend looked at me and said, “The mountains are so your happy place,” and he is right.
So now, it is time for me to focus on healing so I can get well and get back out skiing the mountains, which is where I belong. The hope is that I will be in remission after my 10th Chemo session in July. Leaving me enough time to get ready for next winter and I can continue pursuing my dreams. As a recipient of the High Fives Hope/Stoke/Dream grant (THANKS SO MUCH!) I will be using the funds towards alternative healing methods such as yoga and meditation and maybe even a weekend retreat. I hope that this will keep my mind strong and focused throughout the healing process and continue to keep my body strong and remain active. And ultimately help me heal quickly so I can get out and hit the slopes again soon.”
“When I was 18 years old I was snowboarding at Northstar with a buddy on a Sunday. While we were unsure of what runs we wanted to take because of the over crowded lift lines we decided to check out the vans triple crown park. Not seeing the run before hand but hearing how big it was I went for it full speed off the first jump I approached, which ended up being the last jump I would take. The lip of the jump was more poppy than I expected and it threw me completely off balance. I was flying through the air feet first facing the sky with way more speed than was needed to clear the jump, I knew there was nothing I could do so I braced myself for the landing. After falling an estimated 60 feet to the flats of the landing I hit my head first snapping my neck breaking my C-6 vertebrae. Unable to move my friend went to retrieve ski patrol for help. I had been paralyzed as a quadriplegic with limited use of my hands and arms and no movement below my chest.
As a quad there are few physical outlets one can excel at, but one way is through wheelchair rugby. A few quads were struggling with their mobility to succeed at basketball so they created quad Rugby. The best way to describe it is as a mixture of basketball, football, and hockey. It is played on a basketball court with a goal at either end, and to score you must carry the ball across the end line, there is a penalty box for when fouls are committed, and a shot clock to instill a sense of urgency. It is full contact chair to chair, it is played at an extremely fast pace, and we are always looking for new people to play with which is how I was introduced to the game. I was recruited by another Truckee local who is also a quad and shortly after meeting him he was dragging me off to practice. At first I was kind of timid but by the end of practice I was hooked and going every weekend to play.
I have been playing for three years now and my goal is to compete at a level of national recognition, and the most important part of the game is your equipment. The chair I play in now was a great chair to learn the games strategy and progress in, however it was made early in my development before I was comfortable and knowledgeable about the specifications that would best suite my play. So I came to High Fives for help in getting a new chair that will increase my ability on the court. I will use this chair to train and compete with the desire that as my level of play increases so will my level of competition, and with it one day I will play on a world stage with the U.S. Paralympic team in the Paralympics.”
“My name is Steve Wallace and I grew up in Southern Vermont, 5 minutes away from Mount Snow, where I started skiing at the age of 2. At a young age I excelled in ski racing and attended Stratton Mountain School starting in 8th grade. When it became time to pick a college I decided to put ski racing behind me and I went to school in South Carolina, where the skiing isn’t very good. I really missed skiing for those 4 years and when I graduated I moved back to Southern Vermont and fell in love with the sport all over again. In the fall of 2008 I realized that if I was going to be skiing I should do it in a place where the skiing is actually good, so I packed up my car and moved to Squaw Valley, USA.
On April 10th, 2008 I was skiing with a bunch of friends in Granite Chief at Squaw Valley. I hit a cliff toward the bottom of Granite and after a few high speed turns I noticed a drop off to a cat track. By the time I went to jump over the cat track I was already in the air. When I landed I came out of my skis, landed on my chest and my feet came over my head. Ski Patrol came and I was flown out of Granite to Renown Hospital in Reno where I was told that I suffered a spinal cord injury. I was paralyzed from T9 down and the severity of my injury had doctors telling me that the chances of me ever walking again was unlikely. After a successful surgery and months and months of rehab, which I continue to do today, I am walking, proving the doctors wrong.
Upon hearing about my accident, Roy Tuscany contacted me and we have been close ever since. I had a lot of support from Roy and many others throughout my recovery period, and without that support and the goals that I set for myself along the way I might not be where I am today. My most recent goal is to get back out on the mountain and High Fives Foundation is helping me to achieve this goal. Skiing has always been a huge part of my life and it means the world to me to be able to do it again, and I cannot thank High Fives enough for giving me this opportunity.”
