<div><em>Even before she was born, Paige VanArsdale faced – and overcame – obstacles.</em>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><em>“Like clockwork, Paige used to toss and turn in utero shortly after midnight,” says Melissa, Paige’s mother. The morning of Nov. 2, 1999, Melissa woke up at 2 a.m. But this time was different. “Paige wasn’t moving, and my belly felt hard as a rock,” Melissa says. While she wasn’t convinced it was an emergency, Melissa went to the emergency room just to be safe.</em>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><em>Paige’s fetal heart rate was 50 beats per minute – significantly lower than the standard 110-160. The doctor, alarmed, said Paige needed to come out immediately via emergency C-section and Derek, Melissa’s husband and Paige’s father, rushed to the hospital.</em>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><em>Paige’s umbilical cord was wrapped tightly around her neck, which likely would have killed her if Melissa hadn’t trusted her gut and gone to the ER. Unwrapping the cord helped her breathe temporarily, but Paige turned blue</em> <em>again moments later and had to be rushed to a newborn intensive care unit in Denver. Neither Melissa nor Derek could travel with Paige, due to space constraints in the helicopter and Melissa’s need to recover after surgery. “That first week in the hospital was heartbreaking, as I listened to other babies crying,” Melissa says. A week later, when Melissa and Derek were able to reunite with Paige, a neurologist said she detected a small spot on Paige’s brain. She added that it was probably fine; abnormalities are common on these tests and not always reason to worry.</em>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>– Article "Unstoppable" in Steamboat Magazine
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>25 years later:</strong>
</div>
<div>Hi, I'm para-alpine ski racer Paige VanArsdale. Para-alpine racers are like our peers except we have physical disabilities. I have cerebral palsy: hemiplegia on my right side. My muscles are hypertonic: abnormally high muscle tone that are very tight and stiff even when at rest. This causes my muscles to be weak. It also restricts my movement making it harder for me to perform fast muscle twitches needed for ski racing.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>I represent my hometown of Steamboat Springs and the U.S. in multiple North American para-skiing events against international competitors. I’ve become a role model for young athletes with and without disabilities.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>I train during the winter months in Park City, Utah with my adaptive ski team, the High-Performance Team. My goal is to be a Paralympian in the 2026 Winter Paralympics in Cortina, Italy. I’ve come close over the years, but I’ve had setbacks too including a concussion following a seizure on the ski slopes and bipolar diagnosis in 2017 that caused an abrupt stop to my competition. I was hospitalized for a month. It took my brain over two years to regain memory and relearn how to ski. Finally, in 2020 I competed in my first para-alpine race since my accident. But it was my last race when the season was cut short by the Covid pandemic cancelling Nationals. Racing resumed fully in 2021-22. And I was 70 points from making the 2022 U.S. Winter Paralympic team in Beijing. Nationals followed the Paralympic games a month later where I medaled in all six events against many of the Paralympians from the U.S. and other countries. Training and competition were going smoothly until I broke my tibia plateau during a downhill race in Canada in the 2023-24 season. It was the second of two downhill races. The first race (which was my very first time competing in downhill) I placed fifth. The second race my timing was much faster, but I caught an edge causing me to wipe out. I was non weight baring for six weeks. My season ended before it began. I spent time regaining muscle strength and confidence upon returning to racing during the 2024-25 season. This summer I started getting Botox injections in my leg to help relax the muscles. I suffered a type of syncope after my first Botox session, but I’m okay. And I’ll begin physical therapy this week to help expand my range of motion on my right side. I hope it helps build my strength and increase my flexibility.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>In the meantime, I am working hard to be in great condition for this upcoming 2025-26 race season leading up to the Winter Paralympic games in Italy. I know I have a lot of ground to cover because of my setbacks. But I have the motivation to compete and the dream to represent the U.S.A. I hope you’ll consider helping me achieve my goals by contributing to my para-alpine ski race season. Thank you and you can google my name to read articles about my achievements and hardships.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><em>"Ability is what you are capable of. </em>
</div>
<div><em>Motivation determines what you do.</em>
</div>
<div><em>Attitude determines how well you do it."</em>
</div>
<div>–Lou Holtz
</div>

Anonymous

Deborah Olsen

Jeff Good

Adamah VanArsdale

David Clemmer

Harbor Higginbotham

Mark Bronstein

stephen rhamstine

Eugene Buchanan

Michelle Petix

Fraser Nelson

Gregg Gregg

Fuel Paige VanArsdale's Journey to Paralympics

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

currencyCode

Money Box Donation List Prompt Experiment Audience

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

NPO upsell education category

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

NPO recommendations prod

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

Native 11.3.0 and above

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

categoryGroup

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

NPO upsell animals category

NPO upsell disaster relief category

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

NPO upsell essential needs category

NPO upsell medical category

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

NPO upsell cancer category

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Fuel Paige VanArsdale's Journey to Paralympics

Still $1,830 to go. Help us build momentum.