"a mountain biking injury left him paralyzed in 1995"

http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/138472


Ferguson breaks leg, but hopes to compete again in February

by Curtis Wackerle, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Competitive adaptive skier Sam Ferguson of Aspen suffered a broken leg
last week and will miss this year’s X Games.

Ferguson, who is paralyzed from the waist down and rides a monoski or
sit ski, broke his femur in half near the kneecap on Dec. 20. At the
time, he was getting ready to go skiing and was transferring himself
from the tailgate of his truck into the chair of his sit ski. The sit
ski slipped on the ice, causing Ferguson to fall on his leg.

While Ferguson’s broken leg would be a season ending injury for an
able-bodied skier, Ferguson hopes to be back on his monoski by mid-
January and competing again by early February. His rehab will focus on
bringing down the swelling, restoring movement and rebuilding bone and
muscle strength.

As he has no feeling in his legs, Ferguson did not feel the pain of
the femur fracture, although he said he became light-headed after the
accident happened. He noticed something was wrong when he got to the
top of the gondola on Aspen Mountain and his leg was swollen. He then
saw his knee drop down when he lifted his leg up. Ferguson downloaded
and sought medical attention. Doctors have inserted a surgical rod
into his leg.

ADN file photo
Aspen’s Sam Ferguson competing in the 2009 X Games. Ferguson broke his
leg and will have to miss this year’s X Games.

A monoski is a bucket seat on a metal chassis with shocks mounted on a
single alpine ski with hand outriggers for balance. Ferguson, who
trains with the Challenge Aspen team, has become accomplished in the
sport since a mountain biking injury left him paralyzed in 1995. He
claimed an X Games silver medal last year in monoskiercross, where
multiple riders race down a course of tabletop jumps, banked turns,
rollers and gaps. He is also amassing World Cup points in monoski
alpine downhill and super G racing. Ferguson was slated to be at least
an alternate on the U.S. Paralympic Team, which will compete at the
2010 Vancouver Paralympic Games this March. Ferguson could still be
invited, depending on how he does in the few events he hopes to be
available for between now and the games.

Ferguson said he hopes to make his return to competition at the
Canadian Nationals, which begin on Feb. 9.

The X Games will be held at Buttermilk Mountain on Jan. 28-31, which
is not enough recovery time for Ferguson’s leg to withstand the force
of landing the jumps on the monoskiercross course, he said. He will
attend the X Games to encourage his fellow athletes, he said.

Ferguson is 20 points away from qualifying for World Cup downhill
monoski racing. He hopes to be competing in the World Cup monoski
races that will be held on the Tiehack side of Buttermilk in late
March.

Ferguson gives much credit for his accomplishment to the staff and
coaches of Challenge Aspen, who taught him how to monoski after he
became a paraplegic.

“That was the one thing to put my passion back into and apply that
confidence back to the rest of my daily life,” he said.

Ferguson now skis most every day in the winter.