Kinzie Houston Dickman got into a life changing car crash in 2019, when she was 23 years old. She has had to change her whole way of living her life.

When Dickman was little, she loved the snow and skiing. She learned to ski at the early age of 21 /2 years old. Eventually, she switched from skiing to snowboarding. She shared some of the details about the car crash. According to Dickman, “It was a very traumatic car accident. It took a lot of policemen, firefighters, paramedics, even a helicopter ride to the hospital to keep me alive.”

Wow. This must have been a terrible experience to go through as an athlete, or as anyone. Dickman explained how her spine got compressed in the accident, and she developed a fluid filled cyst. This cyst filled up a huge amount of her spinal cord. This led her to have to always be in a wheelchair.

Later, Dickman discovered that she could still ski, but with a ski chair. At first, she was just doing this for fun because skiing is her passion, but then one day a Paralympic coach asked her if she was competitive with it. She told him that she only did it for fun, and the coach told her she could be really good at the Paralympics.

Now, Dickman is training and hoping to participate in the future Paralympic events. (The 2026 Winter Paralympics will take place in Italy.) 

Many people have interviewed her and have been inspired by her. Dickman’s story is sad, but also so inspirational to other paralyzed or disabled people. She tried so hard to keep up her dream, and succeeded, after the worst that could happen happened. This story just proves that you should never give up on anything that you do.