Matthew was injured January 21, 2001, while hitting an open field jump on a snowmobile. Having recently returned home from California, where he had spent the past seven years riding and racing motocross, Matthew decided to transition his adrenaline-seeking activities to snowmobiling. On a borrowed snowmobile he approached the jump at a speed of 70-75 mph, when the borrowed sled did not respond as expected. Overshooting the landing, Matthew made a split-second decision to leap off the snowmobile to avoid a more severe crash, resulting in instant paralysis upon impact with the ground.