Pacific Northwest Skier Brandon Pitzer to receive grant of $2,142 from High Fives Foundation
High Fives Foundation to provide Pitzer with $2,142 to aid in his recovery from fractures of the T11 and T12 vertebrae.
The December 2014 grant for $2,142 awarded to Pitzer will be used for 12 sessions of physical therapy, 12 sessions of Acupuncture at Gateway Sports Medicine, and 18 sessions of personal training at Whole Body Fitness in Portland, Ore. This is the fifth board-approved grant that Pitzer has received since becoming a High Fives Athlete in December 2013.
About Brandon
On May 3, 2013, while skiing at Mt. Hood, Pitzer under-rotated a double backflip, instantly halting his lifelong dream of becoming a professional freeskier. The horrific crash left Pitzer in a local area hospital with fractures of the T11 and T12 vertebrae. Having full motor function and feeling below the level of his trauma, he went into surgery the next day for a spinal fusion. When he awoke from his surgery, he discovered something that no one ever wants to experience – he was paralyzed from the waist down.
Following the unsuccessful surgery, Pitzer took the positive road and decided to pour everything he had into his recovery. The young skier immediately went to work in rehab, and while he was making amazing strides, he felt like there was always more that he could do to keep progressing in his recovery. He reached out to the High Fives Foundation in November 2013 for advice and to apply for funding to be used toward Acupuncture, personal training and physical therapy in Portland. In December of that year, Pitzer received a board-approved grant for $2,142 toward those new healing services.
Pitzer has received the same grant ($2,142) to be used toward Acupuncture, personal training and physical therapy in the months of February, May, July and December of 2014 totaling $10,710.00 in grant funding since receiving his first board-approved grant in December 2013, Pitzer’s inspiring work ethic coupled with the services provided to him from the High Fives Foundation have really paid off as he is now back on his feet, and in March 2014 he was even able to return to the same slope at Mt. Hood where he suffered his spinal-cord injury.
