San Bruno snowboarder aided by Tahoe-based High Fives Foundation towards spinal cord injury recovery
Empowerment Grant awarded for specialized rehabilitation treatments provided in the Bay Area
(Truckee, California. June 15, 2016) — 24-year-old Kevin Cheung was skiing at Squaw Valley in March of 2015 when he over-rotated a front-flip off of a jump at Squaw’s Gold Coast Terrain Park.
The mistake caused Cheung to land face first, resulting in burst fractures of the spine, and causing paralysis of his lower back and legs.
He recently left outpatient rehabilitation at Craig Hospital in Denver, Colo., and is back in the Bay Area where he grew up.
With an Empowerment Grant from the Tahoe-Based High Fives Foundation, Cheung will train at Peninsula Jewish Community Center and will receive 6-months of Bio-feedback Hand Therapy from Neofect in Burlingame, Calif.
“My current long term goal is to return back to skiing and biking, says Cheung. “Continuing my PT with the support that High Fives has given me makes all these goals possible. High Fives means a lot to me in that I do not feel as if I’m in this challenge alone.”
“Each day Kevin continues to improve in his recovery,” says Roy Tuscany, Executive Director of the High Fives Foundation. “We are so happy to be able to support each new step; he is charging towards the goal returning to the mountain sports he loves.”
In the month of May alone, the High Fives Foundation granted $37,186 to 11 High Fives Athletes.
