Six Rocky Mountain #HighFivesAtheltes, Brooke Schoenherr, Megan Wemmer, DAVID POOLE, Matthew Melancon, Adam Lavender and Blake Foster, receive grant funding from the High Fives foundation in the month of September for a total of $27,995
Congratulations and High Five athletes! Read more about each of there recovery stories below.
High Fives Foundation awards an empowerment grant for Lafayette woman to return to skiing after a traumatic brain injury that happened at Vail
This is the first grant awarded to Brooke Schoenherr from the High Fives Foundation
(Truckee, California, November 3, 2016) — California’s High Fives Foundation is awarding Lafayette resident Brooke Schoenherr an Empowerment Grant for equipment necessary to return to skiing. Schoenherr is in the recovery process from a life-altering injury she received in 2014.
The injury occurred while freeskiing at Vail with some friends and family. She accidentally caught an edge and landed on a frozen pile of snow. Schoenherr suffered a brain injury and ruptured a vertebral artery leading to an incomplete spinal cord injury.
The injury has left her with balance and instability issues, but it has also left her with depression from the TBI.
“She wants to regain normalcy by getting back out on the hill,” said Roy Tuscany, executive director of the High Fives Foundation. “This grant is going to facilitate and motivate her to be outside, exercising and being herself again.”
Longmont woman receives a grant for an adaptive cross country sit ski from the High Fives Foundation
#HighFivesAthlete Megan Wemmer receives another High Fives Foundation Grant
(Truckee, California, November 3, 2016) — California’s High Fives Foundation is awarding Longmont resident Megan Wemmer an Empowerment Grant for a high performance cross country monoski to enable her to progress in adaptive skiing. Wemmer is in recovery from a life-altering injury she received in 2015.
While on a backcountry ski tour in the Arapahoe National Forrest with her boyfriend in February, Wemmer was searching for her glasses in the hut that they were staying the night in.
She went to climb up to the second floor when the ladder gave out causing her to fall directly on her back from 12 feet in the air. The impact left Wemmer unable to move her lower extremities, and her boyfriend immediately hiked out of the wilderness and sent a rescue team to extract her.
When she finally arrived at Craig Hospital in Englewood, Colorado, she was told that she had suffered a burst fracture at her L1 vertebrae and a dislocation of her t12 vertebrae leaving her completely paralyzed from the waist down.
Since her injury she has rehabbed very hard to condition her upper body so that she can remain as active as she was prior to her injury. She has recently started walking with adaptive devices. She continues to make a miraculous recovery.
“Megan has planned to get back to her cabin where she suffered her injury,” said Roy Tuscany, executive director of the High Fives Foundation “This KBG cross country ski rig will help her get there to accomplish her goal.”
High Fives Foundation Empowerment Grant helps Bozeman man ski at another level
David Poole is in recovery from a major spinal cord injury. THIS IS THE FIRST EMPOWERMENT FUND GRANT AWARDED TO David FROM THE HIGH FIVES FOUNDATION
(Truckee California November 3, 2016) — California’s High Fives Foundation is awarding Bozeman resident David Poole an Empowerment Grant for a high-performance monoski to enable him to progress in adaptive skiing. Poole is in recovery from a life-altering injury he received in 2006.
Poole was involved in a horrific ski accident on January 22, 2006 at Copper Mountain, Colorado. He severed his spinal cord and broke multiple bones when he tumbled down a 60-foot rock face. His passion for skiing and his competitive nature have helped him make a name for himself as one of the best monoskiers in the United States.
“His current monoski is cracked and he would greatly benefit from a new model,” said Roy Tuscany, executive director of the High Fives Foundation. “I know his ultimate goal is to win a gold medal at the 2017 Winter X Games, and High Fives can help him accomplish that.”
“My life in a wheelchair has not slowed me down in doing the things I used to do before my injury. I just have to do them differently now,” said Poole. “This grant from High Fives is going to help me remain competitive in a rapidly growing field of adaptive competitors with newer equipment.”
Injured military vet receives Empowerment Grant to pursue Paralympic dreams
Salt Lake City’s own Matthew Melancon will receive a new snowboard for international competition
(Truckee, California, November 3, 2016) — California’s High Fives Foundation is awarding Salt Lake City resident Matthew Melancon an Empowerment Grant for a high-performance adaptive race snowboard and advanced training fees to prepare him for competition. Melancon is a US military war veteran with amputations to both of his legs. His goal is to become the first combat injured to become a winter Paralympian using prosthetic legs to compete.
While on Patrol in Afghanistan in 2011, Melancon’s vehicle drove over an IED. He was evacuated to San Antonio where he underwent more than 18 surgeries over two years trying to put his feet back together again. Finally, thanks to meeting some civilian amputees who showed him that amputations were not the end of the world, Melancon had both his legs amputated.
In 2016, Melancon joined the Military to the Mountains program of the High Fives Foundation. The program provides weeks of training to injured veterans before bringing them to Squaw Valley to improve at adaptive skiing and snowboarding.
“Matthew is an accomplished snowboarder already,” said Roy Tuscany, executive director of the High Fives Foundation. “This grant from High Fives is essential if he wants to make the US Paralympic Snowboard Team.”
High Fives Foundation provides Carbondale man with crucial rehab equipment for recovery from life-altering injury
THIS IS THE FIRST EMPOWERMENT FUND GRANT AWARDED TO Adam Lavender FROM THE HIGH FIVES FOUNDATION
(Truckee, California, November 3, 2016) — California’s High Fives Foundation is awarding Carbondale resident Adam Lavender an Empowerment Grant for a Galileo Mano Dumbbell Set to help in his recovery process from a life-altering injury he received in 2012.
The injury occurred while riding the Freeride Mountain Bike Ranch Style Event in Grand Junction, Colorado in 2012.
“This grant will help me triple my workout time each week, said Lavender. “The technology has already massively increased my upper body strength, and it has brought paralyzed muscles back to life.”
The Galileo product is particularly used to reduce spasticity and alleviate movement restrictions and circulatory disorders. Lavender’s goal is to improve motor function in his arms.
“Adam started getting out on the hill with Challenge Aspen in Snowmass last year,” said Roy Tuscany, Executive Director of the High Fives Foundation. “This grant is going to help give him upper body and core strength for more skiing this winter.” Lavender was a snowboard instructor for eight years before his injury.
“I’ve seen what the wonderful people at High Fives have done for friends of mine, and I am honored to be in such good company,” he said
Collaboration between two action sports nonprofits provides Englewood resident a new ski
THIS IS THE FIRST EMPOWERMENT FUND GRANT AWARDED TO Blake Foster FROM THE HIGH FIVES FOUNDATION
(Truckee, California, November 3, 2016) — California’s High Fives Foundation is awarding Englewood resident Blake Foster an Empowerment Grant for a high performance monoski to enable him to progress in adaptive skiing. Foster is in recovery from a life-altering injury he received in 2014. This grant is in collaboration with the Kelly Brush Foundation that provides adaptive equipment to injured athletes.
The injury occurred while dirt biking in March 2014. Foster was lapping a large jump, and one of the airs went wrong. In mid air he ditched the bike and landed on the backside of the jump. The impact burst fractured his T4 and 5 vertebrae.
Foster is currently in rehabilitation at Englewood’s own Craig Hospital.
“Blake is there day-in and day-out working on his recovery,” said Roy Tuscany, executive director of the High Fives Foundation. “This past season he got into monoskiing at Breckenridge Outdoors Education Center, and he’s hooked.”
“I’ve skied since I was 3 years old and snowboarded at the age of 7,” Foster said. ”I want to get back and do these things again.”
The Kelly Brush Foundation based in Vermont has awarded $3,000 towards his mono ski. The High Fives Foundation is picking up the remaining $3,442.
