Hello everybody,

I am Kenzie's older brother and wanted to get something set up for her to help her lift her spirits and get through this journey of hers. On Thursday, April 13, Kenzie was in a snowboarding accident at Big Bear Mountain and was immediately airlifted to Loma Linda in Southern California after suffering many broken bones. She fractured her C1, C2, T11, T12, L1, L2, L3, L4, L5, multiple ribs, top of her femur, dislocated one hip, and broke the other. After a couple of scary nights, she is now on the road to recovery. Thankfully, she did not need any surgery on her spine and is able to move her feet and legs. She had surgery on her hip where they put a screw in and some pins in her femur. There are talks of future surgeries on her hip but we are taking it one day at a time. Mckenzie is scheduled to stay at the Loma Linda trauma center for two weeks and then will be moved to the rehab center and will learn how to walk and take care of herself moving forward.

She got a little too confident and her froth levels were through the roof during this day at Big Bear. I initially thought that she was thinking that she could hit any jump on the mountain, but turns out it happened on the bunny slope. It was extremely icy this morning and she wasn't able to wipe her speed when she realized she was going too fast into the second roller jump. Next thing you know, she's 10 feet in the air with no sense of direction.

As of right now, she is in great spirits. Mckenzie was able to take a couple of steps around her room using a walker and is now learning how to sit still, which is the hardest part for her. Thankfully, she had health insurance during the time of her accident but we are waiting to see what they will be covering and what they won't. She had to withdraw from the nursing program when she only had a week or so left in the semester. She was paying for it out of pocket and will have to take this semester over again, which isn't cheap. I wanted to set this up for her so that she does not have to worry about paying for another semester in college and she won't have to worry about the bills piling up. Within our first couple of conversations, she was already talking about how her Ikon pass still works for next season but I say we give snowboarding a break for a few seasons.

It is going to be a long road to recovery but she is the strongest person I know. She is already cracking jokes, playing card games, and figuring out how she can continue her education from the hospital bed. I just want her to rest, but we all know that she won't ever sit still. I wanted to reach out to the community of people around her to help with some medical expenses, rehab, and to get her the most badass walker/wheelchair on the planet. She is expected to make a full recovery, but in the meantime let's show this lil lady how much she means to everyone.

Love you Boo! We're all cheering you on.