Emma Paden is an avid climber, a long-time trail crew member with the Mountain Trails Foundation, an adaptive ski instructor for the National Ability Center, the manager of a local indoor rock climbing gym, and one of the strongest, kindest, most resilient people you’ll ever meet. 

But on July 1st, while route setting at the climbing gym where she works, Emma fell approximately 35 feet and broke her back. 

The fall resulted in a burst fracture of her T12 vertebra, additional fractures in her T10 and T11, a broken rib, and broken metatarsals in her foot (3rd through 5th). She was airlifted to the hospital in Salt Lake City and underwent a seven-hour spinal surgery, where doctors fused her spine from T9 to L1 using ten screws and two metal rods. 
<img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/93168653_175390482856182_r.png" alt="93168653_175390482856182_r.png" />
Emma now has limited mobility and sensation below the hips and is facing the biggest challenge of her life: adapting to life with a spinal cord injury. 

Despite everything, Emma is staying strong. She’s committed to her recovery, but the path ahead is steep — physically, emotionally, and financially. Rebuilding her life will require ongoing medical care, adaptive equipment, accessibility modifications, and eventually, housing that will allow her to live independently. 

That's why we're raising funds to help Emma transition out of the hospital and into a new chapter of her life — one filled with hope, mobility, and independence. 

Every donation will go directly toward:

• Medical expenses 

• Adaptive equipment for daily life 

• Accessibility needs (such as a wheelchair-accessible home) 

• Resources to support her independence and long-term quality of life 
<img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/93168653_1753905310795619_r.png" alt="93168653_1753905310795619_r.png" />
Let's show Emma she's not facing this alone. 

<ul>
<li>Donate here on GoFundMe. 
</li>
<li>Or send donations directly to Emma on Venmo: @Emma-Paden
</li>
<li>Or send a check or money order to: 
</li>
</ul>
Emma Paden, 7777 Whileaway Rd., Park City, Utah 84098 

Please write "donation" in the description or memo line.

Anonymous

Juvenal calderon

William Byassee

Lorraine Vonderach

David Joss

Bailee Gunderson

Aaron London

Kathy Donnell

Donna Flint-Anderson

Linda George

David Siroonian

Ron Jackenthal

Bradford Paden

Derek Daniels

jim gaddis

John Sherrill

Kevin Kempin

Help Emma Take Her Next Step

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)

Eligible for Profile Share Badge

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

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

isEligibleForProfileBadge

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

categoryGroup

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.3.0 and above

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

Help Emma Take Her Next Step

Still $2,940 to go. Help us build momentum.