In 2017 Deavon decided to backpack across a few countries on his spring break. At the time he was an educator and had just paid off his student loans. He was planning on visiting a few friends that he had hosted as foreign exchange students in high school. Upon his arrival in France, one of his buddies surprised him  with a ski trip at his family’s local mountain. He rented great snowboarding gear and got on his way. With 15 years of experience, he  was very comfortable on new equipment. At noon they decided to go to the terrain park. On his first jump he lost control, overshot the landing and landed flat on his back on an ice patch and fractured his  t11. Being on the ice and snow prevented inflammation and ultimately was the difference between being an incomplete injury versus a complete.  After 26 days in the French hospital system, his  insurance brought him home to do rehab at Craig hospital.  

Craig Hospital constantly encouraged him  to write grants and get on the mountain as soon as possible, but there was a high level of anxiety for him to do so. He  waited 5 years before giving it a chance.