Updates

August 20th 2006 I fell down from the sky. I had a malfunction in my parachute and hit the ground with more than 100 km/h. It resulted in 4 fractures in my left femur and 21 open fracures in my right leg but luckily I was able to save my back, my head and most of all, my life! These are my updates on my fight back to the slopes...

I´ve added a poem just because...

Being strong is NOT to never fall to always know to always be able

Being strong is NOT to always have the strength to laugh to jump the highest or want the most

Being strong is NOT to lift the heaviest to reach the furthest or always succeed

Being strong IS to see life as it is! To accept its powers and take part

To fall to the bottom get hit hard and get back up

Being strong IS to dear and to hope when your belief is at its weakest

Being strong IS to dear to see a light in the dark and to always fight to reach it.

Surgery time again... (June 9th)

This is my last night home in my own bed... tomorrow i will go to the hospital in Oslo and get on to my 16th surgery on my way back to my life!

This time i have to re-brake my femur as the angle got wrong from the last time they fixed it. When you buy or get something you normally have a 2 year warranty and if it doesnt work properly you can return it. So I guess this is just a normal complaint and I should be given a perfect leg this time...

I will be spending 3-4 months on crutches doing rehab here in Norway so for a change you know where to find me!

Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Happy summer!;-)

Hotdocs in Toronto (April -08)

I am proud and happy to announce that our film ¨20 seconds of joy¨ has been selected for the prestigious Hotdocs Film Festival in Toronto.

For the first time since my accident I will be able to attend a festival like this and be present when we show our film to the audience.

¨20 seconds of joy¨ will be screened on saturday, April 19th and tuesday, April 22nd.

I will be attending the festival with our filmmaker Jens Hoffmann and Cleo Comino.

I will keep you in the loop of how the festival goes... ;-)

Finnish television (March 08)

If you happen to be in Finland tonight (4/3) or on wednesday night (5/3) you should check out a documentary/interview that is being aired on YLE and FST5 at 21.00 tonight and 19.00 on wednesday.

Unfortunately I haven´t been able to check out the material myself, but they are promising base jumping and skiing both before and after my accident!

I´m excited to check it out...

Freeride Camp Bovec (Feb 08)

I just came back to France after my weekend in Slovenia and the Freeride Camp in Bovec. Friday evening I presented my movie Fatimas Hand and made a speech telling my story for the Camp members and a great audience of outdoor people.

Saturday and sunday I finally got to try out the slopes of Kanin. I had made a short visit to Kanin about 4 years ago trying to shoot a segment for Swedish Posse but had to turn back due to lack of snow. This time my expectations were high and although the snow was too tricky for me to take my sitski outside the slopes, I was impressed by the landscape, the mountains and especially the people.

Marko, the organizer of the Freeride Camp, had gathered together over 20 motivated guys and girls of all ages. The task was to learn more about how to ride and behave in the mountains and I was fortunate to get to meet and share experiences with this crowd.

I had a great time and I want to say thank you for a great weekend and I hope to see you next year at the Freeride Camp, hopefully then upright on two skis...

Check out my sitskiing in Bovec:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp1BxpaxEbk

Outdoor Games (Feb 08)

This weekend I just finished the Nissan Outdoor Games in Chamonix, France. Team Focus had decided to bring the handicapped girl (read: me) on their team in order to bring back good memories. For me this was my first come back to the mountain and my friends participating almost like old days...

 

The task was to produce a 5 min film of 5 different sports in 5 days! The sports were: Skiing/Snowboarding, BASE jumping, Paragliding, Climbing and Speed Flying.

 

We had an amazing week with blue skies and sweet entertainment both in the air and on the snow. It was a great feeling to be back with my friends and share the spirit of the mountains. So to all my team and Focus Production, THANK YOU FOR A GREAT WEEK!!

Check out our film at: http://winter.outdoorgames.org/fr/gallery/video.php?idIndex=181&idContent=4528&a=1&b=0&noeud=6

NRK Faktor (Jan 08)

Norwegian TV station NRK just aired a 25 min TV documentary about my fight to get back on my feet. The show was a great success and watched by about 440 000 people in Norway. We have a population of under 5 mill people so I guess thats a good rating.

 

I have received amazing feedback after this show and I just want to say thank you to all the people who keep believing in me and that I will come back to the mountains one day.

For those of you who would like to see the show you can watch it on this link (norwegian only): http://www1.nrk.no/nett-tv/klipp/331219

 

Christmas gifts (Dec 07)

Christmas is in many ways about surprises,

but sometimes the best surprises are not wrapped in paper under the Christmas tree.

This year I surprised myself as much as my family and friends...

 

 

One year ago I was transported with ambulance to the mountains after over 4 months in hospital to celebrate Christmas with my family and friends. It was great to feel close to the mountains but all I could do was to watch the snow and the skiers from my wheelchair inside the living room hoping that I could one day take part again. This year on the other hand, only one year after, I am one of the skiers on the hill!

 

My healing process has not quite allowed me to ski with my two legs yet, but there are always solutions to how you can take part.

My new tool which allows me to shred down the mountain and take an active part with my friends is called a sit-ski.

For those of you who don´t know what this is, it is a normal alpine ski with a chair attached to it with suspenders. I get strapped into the seat and use little skis on my arms to keep balance as god as I can.

I was told to go to the kids area to learn how to maneuver the sit-ski, but impatient as I am, I decided to take it to the top of the mountain at Hemsedal ski-resort in Norway. I can´t remember ever crashing as much as I did on my first run. I was outrun by 4-year old kids and could hardly make my way down the green slope. Humiliating one might think, but challenging was my thought. Run number two I hardly crashed at all and now I´m hooked! The good thing about sit-skis is that I can ski powder much more often than the normal skiers. Because of my low positions I get face shots where you skiers only get snow-sprays to your knees!

Only benefits with this tool so far! ;-)

 

 

I can also announce another good christmas news, and that is that I will be going back to the hospital for more surgeries this winter. Some people might wonder how this can be good news after 15 surgeries already, but the fact is that this is my only chance to be able to make more progress. I have now stagnated my progress and can not get better on my own with just training and physiotherapy. There has been several discussions regarding further surgeries due to my infection problems and the danger of re-awaking the bacterias. If the infection should blossom an amputation might be inevitable. Despite this risk the doctors and I have now decided that the risk in my case is definitely higher but we believe that we will succeed. If this surgery works out I will be one step closer to skiing on my own!

Dare to Dream (Nov 07)

I just made my biggest speech in front of 1500 people. I was super nervous and I´m happy to have this one down. Now that I´m incapable of getting a kick out of jumping or skiing, I find this to be a good replacement. It is a new experience for me and I enjoy every bit of it. My speech is about how I chose to travel the world to pursue my dream. It is about my accident and how I have used the strenght I needed to jump off a mountain to help me get out of the hospital bed and the wheelchair. The speech is meant to inspire and motivate people to dare to believe in themselves and in their dream. No matter how unrealistic it might seem...

The march of the penguins (Sep 07)

A new update from the northern hemisphere...

¨You are a lucky girl to be alive. We managed to keep your right leg for now but you will never walk again. ¨These were the words from my doctor in Switzerland a little over a year ago... He is right. I am lucky to be alive. But you should never say never!

I am now out of the rehab center in France after a long summer and I´m finally enjoying a well deserved vacation with some friends in Switzerland. Last week I threw away my crutches and now I am walking. When I walk I look like a penguin but I´ve decided that penguins are not the worst animal to look like... They sure are a little clumsy, they trip often and they dont fly very well but I can´t help but thinking they are still a little cute! So, I´m happy to be a penguin so far.

For someone who will never walk again I crossed a big barrier yesterday. Yesterday I rock-climbed!! I did have a 5 year old waiting for her turn below me thinking that I was way too old to climb at her spot, but she has never been in my shoes!

It is though with split emotions I´m sending this e-mail.Apart from my personal victories I also have to tell you that I will not be playing with you this winter. My hopes were high that I would be able to ski at least at the end of the season but unfortunately this will not happen. I have now gained max flexion in my knee and it has stopped at about 80 degrees. My bone is fortunately healing but the progress is slow and it will not be strong enough for any kind of impact in a long time. The biggest problem though is that due to my infections the doctors can not make the necessary operation that I need. The risk is too high that it will re-awake the bacterias and then an amputation is inevitable. Maybe next year...

I have not given up, this was a slight setback but I´m still moving forward! Penguins are known for their ability to find their way back to their friends, no matter how far it seems, and they never give up even through the coldest storms or the longest winters... Maybe its not too bad to have some penguin skills after all!

In between training hard to make sure no doctors are right, I have now started making speeches at special events and hopefully it inspires a few people to go out and explore. I have already made my first speech about my travels and my experiences and received standing ovations from the audience. I realized that you can actually get a kick out of this too...

I will also soon be having the movie premier of a 1 hour long documentary called ¨20 Seconds of Joy¨ which is a documentary about my life as a skier and BASE jumper made by F24Film. I am really excited about this film and hopefully people will appreciate it and find it interesting. I will be touring around the world presenting this film at different film festivals throughout the year so actually I dont even see how I would even have time to ski... ;-)

See you all some day. I love all your stories and updates from the mountains, pls dont ever stop!

lots of love

-k-

Miracles are not reliable (July 07)

While waiting for my miracles to happen i´ve decided to train hard and wish for the little changes...
And little changes they happen!

I came to CERS, France, with high hopes but not knowing what to expect. My hopes of course included spending lots of time on the beach surrounded by good looking surfers and get a sweet summer tan. Thats summer, right?! I am not quite surrounded by them but i do get to look at surfers from my window at the gym every day but unfortunately my tan line has been washed out by the chlorine from the indoor pool. I´ve realized now though that this place is so much more than just a surf spot. Now after 4 weeks here i can tell you that if miracles do happen this must be the place they can appear.

My days at CERS are as follows: 08.00-12.30 training with physiotherapist and in the pool. My physio´s main task is to obtain a greater flexibility in my knee. Without the ability to bend my knee i´m afraid my skiing could look rather stupid... Bending the knee might sound like a basic task but
when you haven´t done it in the last 10 months this task can be a very painful part of the day. It basically means forcing the knee to bend while massaging the scars that has now glued themselves together with the muscles and prevents it to stretch. When i showed up i could bend my knee 60 degrees. Today i have 84 degrees!! Our goal is to gain 5 degrees every week!! Some physiotherapists i think gets a special joy out of inflicting pain on their patients. My physio must be one of these and he has his methods. He loves a special vacuum cleaner that he uses on my scars to separate the skin from the muscles and the bone. It sucks big-time! Another joyful method he likes is the shock machine. This machine´s job is to destroy your muscles and knots so that they will let go. To give you an idea this machine is very similar to the one that cracks rocks... So I guess we have the same mentality him and I; No pain, no gain!
We also use a lot of electro stimuli and ultra sound which actually does not hurt!

At 12.30 I have a big lunch including meat, fish, pasta, lots of cheese and pastries every day so i dont need to worry about being too skinny any more.

13.30-18.00: new training session. More physio-torture but also weight lifting and cardio training.
I CAN NOW BIKE WITH TWO LEGS!!!
The bike is of course a modified bike where i dont need more than 84 degrees with my right leg, but i already feel like i´m ready for Tour de France!

At 18.00 i´m dismissed and get to go home. Exhausted...

Basically this is my day every day of the week. I never used to lead a life with routine like i do now, but it is amazing what you can get used to. I feel happy knowing that i am at the right place with the best people taking
care of me.

I cant say when but I will be back, I just know it!

Every week I have an appointment with my doctor Dr Puig. He measures every degree we have gained and makes sure my body can cope with the strains and also that my inspiration is still high. My doctor is currently working on a
cast/orthosis that will enable me to ski and do sports in the future. This orthosis will take some of the pressure off the femur and devide it between my tibia and hip. I think this orthosis can almost be measured as a miracle!

I am now half-way in my original stay here at CERS. My goal is to gain 115 degrees in my knee before I can leave. 115 degrees is the magic number to be able to bike and work out on my own.
I miss you all and want to come play but I have a task to fulfill here and until my goal is achieved you will find me here. However long that might take!

Happy summer and big squeezes
-karina-