Samsam's Mustaches are riding again in 2021 in support of Craig Hospital!

This year is an exciting one because it is my first year participating in P4P as a Pearl iZUMi crew member--an affiliation I had dreamt of making ever since my first P4P experience hosted by Pearl iZUMi.

For those who don't know my story: in 2018 I was riding my road bike down the NCAR hill in Boulder when a truck made a left turn in front of me, resulting in a collision with the vehicle. I suffered a spinal cord injury that resulted in complete paralysis below the injury site.

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to go to Craig Hospital--one of the best spinal cord and traumatic brain injury hospitals in the world--for my rehabilitation. While at Craig, each patient is put onto a team that consists of a primary care doctor, an occupational therapist, and a physical therapist that navigates new needs (i.e. how to move around in a different body, peeing, new medications, etc). Importantly, the team also consists of a therapeutic rec (T-rec) specialist as well as community reintegration staff. I'm going to share a bit about the latter part of this team.

The goal of T-rec is to get patients into fulfilling hobbies-whether it be returning to the adaptive form of an old hobby or something completely new. Whether through appointment or in my free time, I would end up at the T-rec lounge in one way or another every day. They kept me busy via sports, horticulture, cooking, pottery... you name it. Even after I was discharged from Craig, T-rec helped lay the foundation for the hobbies I currently have. They organized a sled hockey event at my home university as well as invited me to outpatient events involving nordic and downhill skiing and scuba diving. Importantly, they also introduced me to a community of fun, outdoorsy adaptive athletes through the Kelly Brush Foundation, U.S. Paranordic ski, and the High Fives Foundation. As if this weren't enough, they also monetarily supported a large chunk of my off-road hand cycle (the equivalent to a mountain bike), which I will be riding for P4P! The spark notes version to the above paragraph is that T-rec gave me back the most valuable thing I thought I lost with this injury: myself.

You'd probably be surprised to learn that T-rec, community reintegration, and the driving programs at Craig hospital are not reimbursed by insurance. Please help me support these programs by joining my P4P team, donating to P4P, or just spreading the word of how impactful Craig hospital and these programs are. I can whole-heartedly say that I would not be as independent, back at my job, and loving life as much as I do without the experience I had at Craig. Thank you for your support!