My Story- coma survivor

To start my posts on Thrive Global, let me tell you about the story that changed my life.

Professional Skier

I have been skiing since I was a one-year-old. I grew up competing as a ski racer, switched to freestyle, and went up to X-Games. I traveled around the world competing globally. Life was pretty awesome. I would go to many snowcapped places around the world, France, Germany, Argentina, Chile….my goal was to make the Olympics, heck, my goal was to win the Olympics. Due to my results and rankings a lot of people thought my goals were attainable, but….

Crash

On April 11th, 2015 I was competing at world tour finals in Whistler Canada. I ended the first run in 4th place. I’m an ambitious little bundle of energy and I do not like 4th place. No one remembers the fourth place finisher. So, I had to upgrade and change my off-axis backflip (flat 3) to an off-axis double backflip (double flat 7). At X-Games in 2013, I became the first woman in the world to compete a double flip in a slopestyle competition when I landed my double backflip. I knew I had a good chance of getting on this podium if I did another double flip.

But….

I landed on my feet under rotating slightly and caught the edge of my ski whiplashing my head onto the snow. My brain started bleeding in eight spots. I damaged my right brain stem which paralyzed my right side, and I immediately went into a coma.

Recovery

Over the course of 3.5 years, I recovered completely. There were many stages of my recovery process. There are so many lessons I learned from this experience I could not have learned the same any other way. I want to share how I came back alive to thrive. Allow readers to learn how I created my luck, viewed the experience with a growth mindset, and designed achievable goals. I have also experienced the benefits of a belief in neuroplasticity and want to educate everyone involved in a brain injury how you can create new nerve pathways if you take action.

Neuroplasticity

Creating new nerve pathways is hard. I use the analogy of walking through snow up to your neck. Pushing through the snow to create new pathways is hard! The activities to create new nerve pathways in your brain are hard too! I had brain stem damage, scientifically there is very little proof and studies done one regaining movement after brain stem damage paralyzes part of your body. Through my recovery and studying neuroplasticity I believe the damage stays perminant if you don’t walk that incredibly difficult path. But, the more times you walk that path, create that habit, the easier and easier it becomes and a new nerve pathway in your brain is created.

Storyteller

I am a passionate storyteller. I tell my story as a public speaker and interview others to tell their stories as a talk show host. I also do ambassador work for companies I believe in, and I announce at action sports events.

After my crash, I never returned to competitive skiing. The risks greatly outweighed the possibility of reward for me. I do however still ski. I get in a car every day, so I feel comfortable still skiing as long as I weigh the risk versus reward in a way I never did as a child.

I would like to share what I learned from my injury and my current experiences and adventures with you. I’m Jamie MoCrazy, and I’d like to become your friend.