Cliffnotes: Roy Tuscany originally from Vermont hit a 70ft step up in Mammoth two years ago. He overshot and destroyed his back leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. On March 25th he skied again, not in a sit ski but on his own feet. (Old news but it was in todays Burlington Free Press)
http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/article/20080502/SPORTS/916719626/-1/rss03
The hitch in Roy Tuscany's giddy-up does little to
illustrate his body's battered past. Nor does his contagious,
zest-for-life attitude.
Despite the eight screws, two plates and
two 9 1/2-inch rods stabilizing his spine, the 26-year-old Truckee
skier can't seem to wipe the infectious smile from his face. He doesn't
try.
Even after three surgeries and 23 months of painful
rehabilitation following a 2006 ski accident left him paralyzed from
the belly button down.
"I think it actually helped Roy out in a
lot of ways," said K.C. Wry, Tuscany's longtime friend and roommate.
"It definitely made him more passionate about skiing and about life in
general. It's amazing how he's been able to stay positive through the
whole thing."
Tuscany's all about positive vibes, really. And skiing. For him, the two are closely linked.
So
it's with much pride that he spearheaded the High Five 540 Contest,
which went down in Sugar Bowl's Switching Yard Terrain Park on April 25.
"It's
going to be a celebration of skiing and a celebration of the positivity
that can come out of skiing," the former Sugar Bowl Freeride Team coach
said, smiling at the thought.
The "High Five" part of the contest title is more than just a clever name. It holds special meaning for Tuscany and his crew.
"I
would high five all my physical therapists and friends (during
rehabilitation), and then it kind of just turned into who I am now,"
Tuscany explained. "I just love seeing my friends again because I
almost lost that opportunity.
"And it gets a great point
across. It's a train of positivity between two people. You get their
positivity, and they get yours back."
Since that fateful spring
day in 2006, the Vermont native has worked tirelessly to get back on
his feet, and back on skis. After steadily chipping away at his goal
for nearly two years, he's done both.
The crash
The day was April 29.
Once
a pro-level freeskier with a dozen sponsors, Tuscany went from the top
of his game to near death in one miscalculated launch in the Mammoth
Mountain terrain park. Tuscany, who was skiing solo on a three-week
trip with his Sugar Bowl Freeride Team, charged a 70-foot step-up
table. Soon after takeoff, he realized he had carried too much speed.
Tuscany
overshot the landing by 21 feet, soaring 121 feet from the lip of the
jump before crashing into the flats from 30 feet in the air.
"I closed my eyes to tell myself, 'You don't want to see this,'" Tuscany recalled.
Then the aftermath.
"It
felt like I went through my body, like my legs went through my body -
if that makes sense," Tuscany said. "The pain is something that I can't
explain to anyone.
"I opened my eyes, saw blood and instantly
almost went into shock because of the amount of pain I was feeling."
The blood was from a severed artery in his thumb.
Though he was
writhing in pain and covered in blood, Tuscany had enough wits about
him to reach into his pocket and grab his cell phone. He called Jim
Hudson, his surrogate father and director of development of the Sugar
Bowl Ski Team. Hudson, who also was skiing on the mountain, relayed the
message to Tuscany's then-girlfriend Ashley Carter and friend Libby
Webster.
Carter and Webster took action, and they soon found Tuscany in a heap, unable to move his lower extremities.
"It
was really scary," Carter said, adding that the initial concern was the
blood, which also was coming from a cut on Tuscany's face. "I think
everyone was in shock. I certainly was. I never expected to see someone
in that situation. I was almost just going on autopilot."
Painful times
Mammoth
ski patrol rushed Tuscany to the bottom of the mountain, where an
ambulance relayed him to the local hospital. The burst fracture sent
his T12 vertebrate into his spine, compromising it by 40 percent.
Putting
the spine injury into context, Tuscany compared it to a soup can, or
anything cylindrical, denting in on the sides. After about two hours in
the Mammoth-area hospital, Tuscany said he was flown to Renown Regional
Medical Center in Reno by way of a Learjet.
There, Tuscany said
a world-renowned back specialist happened to be on call, and he
stabilized Tuscany's spine by inserting the plates, rods and screws.
The operation required 48 staples to sew up, leaving a 13 1/2-inch scar.
To make a bad situation worse, his morphine drip made him sick. Vomiting was excruciating, so he stopped taking the morphine.
"I felt the most pain after surgery," Tuscany said.
He
then spent three days in the intensive care unit, then five more in the
neuro science wing of the hospital. There, he received between 30 and
35 visitors a day, including Truckee skiers Daron Rahlves and Marco
Sullivan, and his large contingent of friends. At one time, 27 visitors
crowded into his room to pay a visit.
Tuscany was out of bed and
in a wheelchair after six days, then started physical therapy, working
on standing with the assistance of parallel bars.
"Every day was
a struggle," he said. "It was ridiculous going from a fully functional
person to just looking at your legs and having them do nothing for you.
It's crazy to look at your legs and tell them to move, and they don't."
Carter was there every day with him, providing priceless support along with Tuscany's parents, he said.
On June 26, 2006, Tuscany was discharged from the hospital.
The recovery
Once
discharged, Tuscany flew back to Vermont. In nearby New Hampshire, he
began working with Wayne Burwell, a personal trainer at River Valley
Club in Lebanon. The two hit it off and remain good friends to this day.
"Wayne basically re-instilled the positivity I had back into my mind," Tuscany said.
Also
back in Vermont, Tuscany had a "bad doctor" who misdiagnosed a new
problem with his feet, which started to drop and turn inward. The
doctor said it was because of muscle contractions.
After
moving back to Truckee in December 2006, Tuscany learned from Ladd
Williams of Bear Bones Physical Therapy that the problem was caused by
shrinking of his Achilles tendons. His right Achilles had shrunk by 2
1/2 inches and his left by 1 1/2 inches.
Tuscany had surgery
in May 2007 to repair his right Achilles, then went under the knife
again in September to fix the left side. He still needs two more
surgeries, one to transfer muscles to his left leg and another to
repair damaged toes on his right foot.
By November, his feet
were flat again. He began using crutches, then switched to a cane
within a month. By February of this year, Tuscany was walking under his
own power.
The big day
On March 25, Tuscany took two runs down Knob Hill at Sugar Bowl along with the assistance of friends.
With his legs still far from 100 percent, he couldn't turn. Still, he was skiing again.
Tuscany
got adaptive ski poles that allow him to initiate turns with the
strength in his upper body. So far he's skied five days.
"I just
want to ski powder again," Tuscany said. "That's the only goal I have
in skiing right now. I hit a three-foot jump on my snowmobile and it
was scary. I'll never hit another jump again - not on skis, not on a
snowmobile, not on any apparatus."
http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/article/20080502/SPORTS/916719626/-1/rss03
The hitch in Roy Tuscany's giddy-up does little to
illustrate his body's battered past. Nor does his contagious,
zest-for-life attitude.
Despite the eight screws, two plates and
two 9 1/2-inch rods stabilizing his spine, the 26-year-old Truckee
skier can't seem to wipe the infectious smile from his face. He doesn't
try.
Even after three surgeries and 23 months of painful
rehabilitation following a 2006 ski accident left him paralyzed from
the belly button down.
"I think it actually helped Roy out in a
lot of ways," said K.C. Wry, Tuscany's longtime friend and roommate.
"It definitely made him more passionate about skiing and about life in
general. It's amazing how he's been able to stay positive through the
whole thing."
Tuscany's all about positive vibes, really. And skiing. For him, the two are closely linked.
So
it's with much pride that he spearheaded the High Five 540 Contest,
which went down in Sugar Bowl's Switching Yard Terrain Park on April 25.
"It's
going to be a celebration of skiing and a celebration of the positivity
that can come out of skiing," the former Sugar Bowl Freeride Team coach
said, smiling at the thought.
The "High Five" part of the contest title is more than just a clever name. It holds special meaning for Tuscany and his crew.
"I
would high five all my physical therapists and friends (during
rehabilitation), and then it kind of just turned into who I am now,"
Tuscany explained. "I just love seeing my friends again because I
almost lost that opportunity.
"And it gets a great point
across. It's a train of positivity between two people. You get their
positivity, and they get yours back."
Since that fateful spring
day in 2006, the Vermont native has worked tirelessly to get back on
his feet, and back on skis. After steadily chipping away at his goal
for nearly two years, he's done both.
The crash
The day was April 29.
Once
a pro-level freeskier with a dozen sponsors, Tuscany went from the top
of his game to near death in one miscalculated launch in the Mammoth
Mountain terrain park. Tuscany, who was skiing solo on a three-week
trip with his Sugar Bowl Freeride Team, charged a 70-foot step-up
table. Soon after takeoff, he realized he had carried too much speed.
Tuscany
overshot the landing by 21 feet, soaring 121 feet from the lip of the
jump before crashing into the flats from 30 feet in the air.
"I closed my eyes to tell myself, 'You don't want to see this,'" Tuscany recalled.
Then the aftermath.
"It
felt like I went through my body, like my legs went through my body -
if that makes sense," Tuscany said. "The pain is something that I can't
explain to anyone.
"I opened my eyes, saw blood and instantly
almost went into shock because of the amount of pain I was feeling."
The blood was from a severed artery in his thumb.
Though he was
writhing in pain and covered in blood, Tuscany had enough wits about
him to reach into his pocket and grab his cell phone. He called Jim
Hudson, his surrogate father and director of development of the Sugar
Bowl Ski Team. Hudson, who also was skiing on the mountain, relayed the
message to Tuscany's then-girlfriend Ashley Carter and friend Libby
Webster.
Carter and Webster took action, and they soon found Tuscany in a heap, unable to move his lower extremities.
"It
was really scary," Carter said, adding that the initial concern was the
blood, which also was coming from a cut on Tuscany's face. "I think
everyone was in shock. I certainly was. I never expected to see someone
in that situation. I was almost just going on autopilot."
Painful times
Mammoth
ski patrol rushed Tuscany to the bottom of the mountain, where an
ambulance relayed him to the local hospital. The burst fracture sent
his T12 vertebrate into his spine, compromising it by 40 percent.
Putting
the spine injury into context, Tuscany compared it to a soup can, or
anything cylindrical, denting in on the sides. After about two hours in
the Mammoth-area hospital, Tuscany said he was flown to Renown Regional
Medical Center in Reno by way of a Learjet.
There, Tuscany said
a world-renowned back specialist happened to be on call, and he
stabilized Tuscany's spine by inserting the plates, rods and screws.
The operation required 48 staples to sew up, leaving a 13 1/2-inch scar.
To make a bad situation worse, his morphine drip made him sick. Vomiting was excruciating, so he stopped taking the morphine.
"I felt the most pain after surgery," Tuscany said.
He
then spent three days in the intensive care unit, then five more in the
neuro science wing of the hospital. There, he received between 30 and
35 visitors a day, including Truckee skiers Daron Rahlves and Marco
Sullivan, and his large contingent of friends. At one time, 27 visitors
crowded into his room to pay a visit.
Tuscany was out of bed and
in a wheelchair after six days, then started physical therapy, working
on standing with the assistance of parallel bars.
"Every day was
a struggle," he said. "It was ridiculous going from a fully functional
person to just looking at your legs and having them do nothing for you.
It's crazy to look at your legs and tell them to move, and they don't."
Carter was there every day with him, providing priceless support along with Tuscany's parents, he said.
On June 26, 2006, Tuscany was discharged from the hospital.
The recovery
Once
discharged, Tuscany flew back to Vermont. In nearby New Hampshire, he
began working with Wayne Burwell, a personal trainer at River Valley
Club in Lebanon. The two hit it off and remain good friends to this day.
"Wayne basically re-instilled the positivity I had back into my mind," Tuscany said.
Also
back in Vermont, Tuscany had a "bad doctor" who misdiagnosed a new
problem with his feet, which started to drop and turn inward. The
doctor said it was because of muscle contractions.
After
moving back to Truckee in December 2006, Tuscany learned from Ladd
Williams of Bear Bones Physical Therapy that the problem was caused by
shrinking of his Achilles tendons. His right Achilles had shrunk by 2
1/2 inches and his left by 1 1/2 inches.
Tuscany had surgery
in May 2007 to repair his right Achilles, then went under the knife
again in September to fix the left side. He still needs two more
surgeries, one to transfer muscles to his left leg and another to
repair damaged toes on his right foot.
By November, his feet
were flat again. He began using crutches, then switched to a cane
within a month. By February of this year, Tuscany was walking under his
own power.
The big day
On March 25, Tuscany took two runs down Knob Hill at Sugar Bowl along with the assistance of friends.
With his legs still far from 100 percent, he couldn't turn. Still, he was skiing again.
Tuscany
got adaptive ski poles that allow him to initiate turns with the
strength in his upper body. So far he's skied five days.
"I just
want to ski powder again," Tuscany said. "That's the only goal I have
in skiing right now. I hit a three-foot jump on my snowmobile and it
was scary. I'll never hit another jump again - not on skis, not on a
snowmobile, not on any apparatus."
