$2,075 Empowerment Grant to provide Wemmer membership at PEAK Center and massage therapy
Boulder resident Megan Wemmer receives continued support from High Fives Foundation towards recovery from life-altering injury
The High Fives Foundation is awarding 33-year-old Megan Wemmer an Empowerment Grant to help aid in her recovery from a life-altering injury.
While on a backcountry ski tour in the Arapahoe National Forrest with her boyfriend in February 2015, Wemmer was searching for her glasses in the hut in which they were staying. Wemmer 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 her unable to move her lower extremities. Her boyfriend immediately hiked out of the wilderness and sent a rescue team to extract Wemmer from the hut. When she arrived at Craig Hospital in Englewood, Colo., she was told 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 is working very hard to condition her upper body so that she can remain as active as she was prior to her injury. In June, less than four months from the date of her injury, Wemmer completed a 50k hand cycle ride in the Peddle for Possible event at Craig Hospital. At Craig, Wemmer has worked on her recovery along side other High Fives Athletes including Jim Harris and Bond Camp, both who received Empowerment Grants in June.
This June Empowerment Grant from the High Fives Foundation will provide Wemmer with a membership at the PEAK Center at Craig Hospital so she can continue using the specialized equipment with professional trainers. The grant will also provide sessions of massage at New Life Wellness Center to promote healing and blood flow after intense physical training.
“By interacting with other High Fives Athletes, I am inspired to achieve things that I thought my body wouldn’t be able to do anymore,” said Megan Wemmer.
Since the High Fives Foundation’s January 2009 inception, the Empowerment program service has assisted 85 athletes from 20 states in nine respective funding categories which include: living expenses, insurance, travel, health, healing network, adaptive equipment, winter equipment, programs and “stoke” (positive energy, outlook and attitude).
In 2015, the High Fives Foundation set a budget of disbursing $266,000 via board-approved grants through the Empowerment Fund. Since January 2015, 26 High Fives Athletes and two organizations have been awarded 40 board-approved grants totaling $211,393.
In the month of June the High Fives Foundation disbursed $30,194 in board-approved grants to nine athletes.
June Empowerment Athletes:
Jamie Crane-Mauzy from Salt Lake City, Utah.
Bond Camp from Breckenridge, Colo.
Megan Wemmer from Boulder, Colo.
Nick Fairall from Andover, N.H.
Kevin Cheung from San Francisco, Calif.
Mike Schwarz from Chester, VT.
Jim Harris from Salt Lake City, Utah
Aaron Baker from Northridge, Calif.
Josh Dueck from Vernon, British Columbia.
Megan is quick with a smile and the determination to gain mobility through hard hours of strength training while at Craig Hospital. I’m looking forward to reading about her continued progress with the help of High Fives Foundation.