High Five Athlete of the Week #HighFivesAthlete Nick Fairall from Andover, New Hampshire aka #NewHampshireNick

Nick is spending the next month in Tahoe at the CR Johnson Healing Center for training with #JackTheTrainer & spending time with the High Fives Community. Thank you Nick for your participation in High Fives 8th Annual Bocce Tournament!

The High Fives Foundation has assisted Nick with living costs at the Residence Inn during out-patient treatment at Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in New Jersey, shower, commode chair, adaptive hand controls, a week at High Fives waterskiing camp in Mississippi, a week at High Fives waterskiing camp in Chico and adaptive skiing.

On January 5th, 2015, Nick was competing in the Ski Jumping World Cup in Bischofshofen, Austria. During qualifications, Nick had a great jump that would have qualified him for the round; however, due to the wet snow conditions, his skis stuck in the snow immediately upon landing. As a result, his center of gravity and balance were thrown forward, and upon impact, Nick was certain that he had broken his back. Medical personal arrived immediately to Nick’s aid and rushed him to the local hospital, where he underwent emergency spinal surgery within two hours after the crash.

Following surgery, Nick was told he had sustained an L-1 fracture dislocation, which was fixed during the surgery. However, due to the compression of his spinal cord, he lost the use of his legs – The body parts that allowed him to compete in the sport that he has truly loved for 20 years, and allowed him to become an United States Olympian.