head brutally impacted with the hard
snowpack, causing a severe traumatic
brain injury from the whiplash effect
and a fractured C-1 vertebrae, resulting
in a degree of paralysis. She was in a
coma for hours that day, then was in a
reduced coma for weeks afterward.
In a way, it is a small blessing that
Kelli does not remember anything
about the collision. But when she
awoke from her coma weeks later at
Craig Hospital in Denver, Kelli learned
that she had missed not only Christmas,
but the funeral and burial of her
first-born daughter, and her family’s
process of grieving.
Kelli says that although she suffered
extensive physical injuries, Chauncy
endured the deepest emotional injuries.
Imagine the pain of having to come
home on Christmas Eve, with two small
children awaiting Santa Claus and the
joys of family and the holiday season –
and your wife clinging to life in intensive
care. Imagine the grief of making
arrangements for your child’s funeral.
It is a testament to his strength and
character that in the midst of all this
calamity and heartache, he nevertheless
had the compassion and thoughtfulness
to send flowers to the grieving
family of the snowboarder.
Giving meaning to loss
After coming out of her coma, Kelli
remained hospitalized for weeks,
with months of slow and painstaking
physical therapy still ahead. She
had to relearn how to walk, eat and
swallow. Although initially Kelli experienced
some paralysis, miraculously
she regained much of the use of her
body over the course of intense rehabilitation
at Craig Hospital. Today,
she still suffers from partial paralysis,
but she has increasing movement
along her ride side and arm, which
she still cannot fully raise above her
head. Her recovery was so astonishing,
Craig Hospital honored Kelli with
its prestigious 2017 Inspiration Award
to celebrate and recognize rehabilitation
efforts, and for working to prevent
such accidents from happening
to other families.
This leads to the reason why the National
Ski Areas Association (NSAA)
shared the Johnsons’ story. To honor
their daughter and create a meaningful
legacy on her behalf, they are partnering
with NSAA to launch the powerful
safety campaign #RideAnotherDay,
intended to elevate the conversation
about responsible skiing and riding behavior.
“My hope is to truly get this message
out there to others,” said Kelli. “If anyone
just hears this message even once,
they will hopefully change how they
act and conduct themselves out on the
mountain.”
The Johnsons’ dream is that the safety
campaign will help transform the
culture on the mountain, and have a
trickle-down effect for younger people.
Tim Hendrickson, senior vice president
with the Willis MountainGuard
insurance program, knows firsthand
how such tragedies impact families. As
a former ski patroller and risk manager
at the Canyon ski resort in Utah, and
then as a claims adjuster for Mountain-
Guard, Hendrickson has often worked
with families that suffered catastrophic
injuries or fatalities.
#RIDEANOTHERDAY
“Thankfully, these incidents are incredibly
rare, but when they happen,
grieving families say, understandably,
that they just don’t want to see something
like this happen to anyone else’s
child, and they mean that with genuine
sincerity,” said Hendrickson. “But
with the Johnson family, they took
this pledge to heart, and put their full
backing behind doing all they can to
highlight the need to change behavior
– even if it means telling their story to
anyone who listens, reliving, time and
again, the incredible pain and heartache
from Christmas Eve 2010. It’s astonishing
how willing they are to put
themselves through that moment, in
an effort to substantively change the
sport they love.”
And Hendrickson should know: he
worked closely with the Johnson family
in processing their claim against the
ski area.
“No amount of money could possibly
compensate for their daughter Elise,
but they committed themselves to do
anything they could that would raise
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