Three years after a head injury nearly left her paralyzed, University of Colorado at Boulder senior Alexis St. Jean will graduate on Friday, May 11, with a bachelor's degree in environmental design-design studies.
When St. Jean came to Colorado from Georgia to start college at CU-Boulder in 2001, she took full advantage of the outdoor activities in Colorado, including snowboarding.
On Feb. 8, 2004, St. Jean's life was changed forever when she suffered a traumatic brain injury while skiing at Winter Park, after she banged her head while snowboarding. The impact of her fall caused a stroke on the right side of her brain.
After the accident, which happened on the last run of the day, she was taken by a Flight for Life helicopter to St. Anthony Central Hospital in Denver, where she spent four days in a coma.
The first thing she remembers in the days after the accident was being told she was paralyzed. Luckily, that didn't turn out to be true. However, she wasn't able to walk for about a month and a half after the accident.
"It is empowering for me to look back and remember my first steps," said St. Jean, who took those steps in Craig Hospital in Englewood. "It was scary in a way, just like trying something for the first time."
Her road to recovery took her out of school for nearly a year. She spent three months in the hospital, including two and a half months at Craig Hospital. During her recovery, she went through physical, occupational and speech therapy.
"I remember the first time I tied my shoes, I was so proud of myself," St. Jean said. "I think a lot of the time we set our own limits for ourselves. Throughout this whole thing I just told myself I was going to be fine and that I would move on, and I have."
She said even while she was going through her rehabilitation she always knew she would return to school, and she relished the second chance. The stroke paralyzed most of her body at first. As she regained use of different parts of her body, her left side was slow to come around, she said.
It has been more than three years since the accident and St. Jean says she has made an excellent recovery.
Peggy Gordon, who is St. Jean's academic adviser in the College of Architecture and Planning, helped her stay on track for graduation.
"Alexis persevered because she is dedicated to doing well and she didn't let the accident stop her by any means," Gordon said.
In fact, St. Jean said in a strange way the accident turned out to be a blessing for her. They are so many people who helped during her recovery, people to whom she always will be grateful.
"There were so many positives that came out of this," she said. "Most importantly, it brought my brother back from Iraq."
While recovering, St. Jean made a promise to her parents that she wouldn't snowboard again until at least after graduation. She isn't sure when she will return to the slopes, but when she does she definitely will be wearing a helmet.
"Helmets can be easy to overlook because people may think they don't fall that often, but why risk it? It only takes one bad fall," she said. "It's like driving without a seatbelt. Chances are good that you won't get in an accident, but if you do and you aren't wearing a seatbelt you're going to be in trouble."
St. Jean currently is job hunting and hopes to find a job in construction management.