#HighFivesAthlete Mike Schwarz received an Empowerment Grant from the High Fives Foundation for his recovery from a life-altering injury
Schwarz has attended multiple therapeutic equine assisted riding lessons in Springfield, VT to gain flexibility, coordination and independence. Watch him trot!!
The High Fives Foundation awarded 27-year-old Mike Schwarz an Empowerment Grant for sessions of Equine Therapy to help him with his recovery from a traumatic brain injury he sustained in a snowboarding accident in March 2009.
While attending his Senior year at University of Vermont, Schwarz crashed while competing in a quarter pipe snowboarding championship. He was in a coma for many weeks, diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury. He spent the next year in a rehab hospital recovering in the gym, the pool and the recumbent bike. Since the injury, Schwarz has gained back most of his living skills and is enjoying the positive growth his custom sock business El SchwarEZ Designs.
“Therapeutic riding has been shown to be beneficial and increase flexibility, balance, coordination and body awareness,” Mike Schwarz told the High Fives Foundation. His story of recovery is shared in the 2014 High Fives Foundation B.A.S.I.C.S. Documentary, “#HelmetsAreCool.”
