A West Haven teen has only a 5% chance of ever walking again after a snowboarding accident last weekend left him paralyzed.
Aza Topik was snowboarding at Snowbasin Resort on Sunday when bad visibility caused the 18-year-old to dip the front edge of his snowboard into the snow — just enough so that he flipped forward headfirst, his sister Gabby Topik said.
As he hit the ground, his feet went over his head and his neck broke, leaving him paralyzed and trapped in snow. Aza fractured his C-5 vertebra, his sister said, located in the lower neck.
Gabby told The Salt Lake Tribune that Aza had always been active, whether he was skateboarding, snowboarding or wakeboarding. He’s also a former football player. She said he’d only been snowboarding for about three years, “but he really picked it up fast.”
On the day of the accident, Gabby said one of Aza’s friends called their parents and told them that “he had fallen on his neck, he had hit the front edge of his snowboard.”
Now, Gabby said he’s looking at months of rehab and physical therapy “before he can even come home,” and that if he does walk again, he’ll probably have to use a walker or braces.
“It’s one of those moments that you think can only happen to someone else, until it happens in your family,” said Gabby on a GoFundMe campaign for her brother.
Aza had been in the ICU since Sunday, Gabby said, but he was transferred to a different room on Wednesday. She said he had surgery on Monday and that it went well.
Gabby said Aza is in a lot of pain and can’t move from the waist down, but “he’s doing all right.”
“And for everything, he still had a pretty good attitude,” she said.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the GoFundMe campaign for Aza had raised almost $30,000.
Snowboarding and skiing safety:
This year, the National Ski Area Association introduced an updated Skier Responsibility Code “to better encompass all the ways to stay safe on the slopes this season,” according to Snowbasin Resort’s website.
1. Always stay in control. You must be able to stop or avoid people or objects.
2. People ahead or downhill of you have the right-of-way. You must avoid them.
3. Stop only where you are visible from above and do not restrict traffic.
4. Look uphill and avoid others before starting downhill or entering a trail.
5. You must prevent runaway equipment.
6. Read and obey all signs, warnings and hazard markings.
7. Keep off closed trails and out of closed areas.
8. You must know how and be able to load, ride and unload lifts safely. If you need assistance, ask the lift attendant.
9. Do not use lifts or terrain when impaired by alcohol or drugs.
10. If you are involved in a collision or incident, share your contact information with each other and a ski area employee.
https://www.snowbasin.com/the-mountain/mountain-safety