BOISE, Idaho — In October 2019, Jordan Valentine and her father, St. Luke's surgeon Jim Valentine were involved in a tragic helicopter crash in Malheur County, Ore. The crash left Valentine with a spinal injury that made her unable to walk.
After the crash, Valentine waited for 16 hours in freezing temperatures for rescuers to find her.
Her father did not survive the crash.
“The last year and almost two months now have been going to therapy and working on getting that muscle control back,” Valentine said.
More than a year after the crash, Valentine is slowly but surely regaining her ability to walk. The now 26-year-old is able to walk almost two and a half miles.
“Walking very slowly at like a mile and a half per hour,” Valentine said. “Slowly but surely.”
In addition to being able to walk long distances, Valentine participated in the Challenged Athletes Foundation's Nordic Skiing and Biathlon Clinic and tried adaptive skiing for the first time.
“It meant a lot to be out and be able to just be outside again," she said. "Definitely not in the same capacity as what I used to be, doing like downhill skiing and snowboarding, but it's meant a lot to just be just like in this community of fellow adaptive athletes."
Something her dad would no doubt be proud of.
“What I tell myself to have motivation to keep going is that I’m really fortunate to be here and I should be enjoying life and what it has to offer to the fullest," Valentine said. "So I try to be as appreciative as I can to what I do have, even if it's not as much control or freedom as I want it to be."
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