The road to recovery often includes an offset mind path, unbearable pain, and the pestering thought that happiness that could be taken away forever. In this unfortunate story, pro skier CR Johnson carved an open path to passion. On December 8th, 2005, CR Johnson faced a life-threatening injury while skiing in Utah, having to be in the hospital for over a month. After a long and hard road to both mental and physical recovery, CR Johnson’s passion and love for the sport got him back to doing what he loved and he was even able to compete again two years later in 2007. Sadly as fate would have it, the mountains claimed his life in 2010 at his home ski resort Squaw Valley. I would like to tell you about CR’s life and how those involved in the freesking community were affected by his passion towards the sport he loved and the legacy he left behind.
As I stated before CRJ almost lost his life in 2005 after a skiing accident in where he suffered a traumatic brain and neck injury. He spent over a month in the hospital and the first two weeks were in an induced coma. When he woke up he was fully paralyzed and was only able to move his eyes. He had to relearn everything. Starting from relearning how to swallow so he could eat and relearn how to use his vocal cords to speak. And eventually use of his arms and legs and learning how to walk again. He was right where he wanted to be in life being one of the best skiers in the world and a freak accident stopped that. He had months of PT and worked hard to recover and did not let it get the best of him. Being a large figure in the freeski community a lot of people were following his recovery and eventual return to the sport that almost killed him at the time. His story was motivational and he was the kind of person who was not doing it to go back to his career, he was doing it because it was something he loved. He was the kind of person that did not want sympathy, he just wanted to go out and enjoy the day with whoever he was with, always making the best of life. At one point he told reporters he was grateful for his injury. He said it made him realize so many things, that life is really about friends and family. Made him grateful for the people in his life.
I wouldn’t be talking about CRJ like this if his legacy hadn’t personally affected me. Several months after his death, I had an accident of similar circumstances, almost dying doing something I love. Fortunately I came out alright. My injuries were not as bad as his in the long run and my recovery was nothing compared to relearning everything. Having to sit at home alone, restricted from doing any physical activity, I had CRJ’s story was still fresh in my mind to look to as inspiration. I thought about his struggles and his eventual comeback to doing what he loved. Along with his new outlook and optimism towards life and only thinking about the positives that could be ahead, his story got me through a lot.
Many of us learned from his come back, we also learned from his death. He was an influence to the sport at the start, and then upon recovering he became an idol as a person recovering successfully, to eventually becoming a lost legend that taught us how to enjoy everything in life. Even the small things during our hardest times. To someone who gave everything, including his life, to the sport he loved and the people in its community, it is fitting that I leave you with one of his famous quotes. “Only the things that you truly love will you pursue with that energy. And for me…my family, my friends and skiing, that’s it for me. That’s my life. The joy I get from skiing, that’s worth dying for.”
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