Living with CRPS: My Journey After a Devastating Ski Accident

In a Blink

The snow was starting to get a little sticky. This is always my signal to call it a day. I was tired, happy, read for a cocktail and a fire. The car was parked on the other side of the mountain, which meant a few more runs to get there.

As an advanced skier I know my limits. I wasn’t pushing it, just enjoying hte last few turns of what had been a beautiful day.

I took a run down Shirley Lake Express. My friend, Sarah, and her daughter, Zoe, were ahead of me. I stopped to catch my breath and let another skier pass. I could see Zoe waiting at the bottom.

Then, out of nowhere, my right ski caught the sticky snow, causing it to lag. My left ski kept going. Then I was falling.

There was a snap. Or maybe a pop. It’s hard to describe the sound when it’s coming from your own body. My ski didn’t release.

When I finally came to a stop, my left ski pointed one way, my right leg was twisted and facing the other way. I remember screaming HELP, as the pain was excruciating.

A man named Henry appeared beside me. Someone else was calling ski patrol. I begged him to release my ski from my boot. He hesitated, probably because of what my leg looked like. but he did it, and I felt the shift, and waves of pain radiating up and down my leg. Tears streamed down my face.

Ski patrol arrived. They loaded me into a toboggan. My leg was locked down, my pants cut open to check for a compound fracture.

At the bottom and ambuland waited. Two hours later, I finally received my first dose of pain medication. Two hours! It felt like forever.

At the hospital, I learned my ACL was rupterd, but that was just the beginning.

The Diagnosis

Over the next few weeks, the list of traumas grew.

Ruptured ACL. Torn meniscus. LCL and MCL tears. Tibial plateau fracture.

A parade of acronyms and medical jargon that all meant one thing: my knee had a lot of healing to do and there were bound to be surgies ahead.

A few weeks later, I received the full diagnosis: Ruptured ACL. Meniscus tear, LCL and MCL tears. Tibial plateau fracture.

But the worst part of this accident showed up one week later.

It would take eight months and three surgeries before the final diagnosis would be named — Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), also known as the suicide disease.

Why am I Sharing This?

This is the story I want to tell. Not because it’s easy to relive, but because it matters.

I want to raise awareness. I want to share my journey and change the narrative. And I want to inspire others who face this diagnosis, to find Courage, Resilience, Persevernace and Strength, to fight for remission.

This isn’t a story about what broke me. It’s a story about taking my life back.