Not allowing mobility limitations from progressive multiple sclerosis to take away her active lifestyle led her to pursue adaptive water skiing. During a practice session in June 2020, Kelly wiped out, but because of the speed she was skiing at, instead of just falling, she was catapulted out of the sit ski, causing her to land face first, and at that speed, the water was like concrete.  This caused her C4 vertebrae to dislocate into her spinal cord and fracture other areas of her cervical spine, leading to paralysis and tetraplegia.