A Fort Macleod teen is recovering in a Calgary hospital after a snowboarding incident at a southern Alberta resort left him paralyzed from the waist down.
Colton Ribling, 19, was snowboarding with friends at Castle Mountain Resort a month ago when he became separated from the group and fell into a deep gully.
He fell almost seven metres onto his tailbone and spent several hours in the cold, calling for help.
“I was up there for well over two hours. I couldn’t feel my legs, that was it, didn’t feel any pain,” he said.
Colton suffered a severe spinal cord injury and there is an eight percent chance that he will walk again.
He had just started a new job in retail when the accident happened and his disability coverage had not kicked in yet.
He is now receiving some funding from a provincial program, but it won't begin to pay for retrofitting the family home to accommodate his physical capabilities.
“We've got quotes out for the bathroom right now and right now that's looking like it's going to run into the $20,000 price range,” said Colton’s dad Kelly.
“I'm doing lifts and then currently learning how to transfer from bed to my wheelchair with a slider board,” said Colton.
Colton is an avid athlete with a passion for lacrosse and he is determined to get back in the game.
“My main goal is to play my final year, junior next year, and if not I’d definitely get into coaching and give back,” he said.
Colton says his rehabilitation and therapy is going well and he is signing on to a new trial at the University of Calgary, where he'll get to use an exoskeleton to walk.
“It's a thing that I’ll be able to stand in and it'll manipulate my legs to walk, and I just have to balance,” he said.
The family is still looking to connect with the couple who found Colton on the mountain, Eric and Kate, to thank them for saving their son from certain death.
“It could have been so much worse. So we're just staying really positive on what we have and not what we don't have,” said Kelly.
Family and friends are raising money through a GoFundMe account and they are also starting an online silent auction.
Click HERE for more information on the GoFundMe campaign and HERE to visit Colton’s Facebook Page.
(With files from Taylor Oseen)
