The Alan Henderson Fund

On President's Day weekend Alan went snowboarding at June Mountain. It was early in the morning and there was a light layer of powder over ice, he caught an edge and flew an estimated 45 miles per hour into a pole off the side of the run. He landed on the ground with his body facing one way and his legs facing the other. That is how Dr. Eric Macy (who works for Kaiser in San Diego) found him.

He was taken to Mammoth Hospital and then flown to Washoe Medical Center in Reno, Nevada. The injuries he sustained were massive. His right lung filled with blood and his left one collapsed. Multiple ribs were broken on both sides. His right diaphragm suffered nerve damage and has stopped working. His right leg was broken at the femur. Both sides of his pelvis were cracked and broken. His spine was severed and broken at the T10/12 connection.

The broken pieces of his spine were displaced more than 6 inches according to his trauma surgeon and caused internal injuries to his kidneys, liver and pancreas. A liter and a half of blood was removed from his abdomen. The 7 hour surgery he had to fuse his spine together was attended by 4 different surgeons. His spinal surgeon told me it was the worst break he'd ever seen, the lower portion of his spinal cord was literally pulled out by the impact. He is paralyzed from the waist down.

Alan was flown back to San Diego the first weekend in March. His doctors are hopeful he will be going to an inpatient rehab facility at Sharp Hospital soon. He will live there for weeks learning to live in a wheelchair. His 3 year old daughter Kaylyn is too young to understand what is going on.

Alan has worked seasonally on a fishing boat for the past few years. He won't be able to do that sort of work again. His girlfriend Ila has barely left his side since this happened. Both she and his only sister, Renee, dropped all their classes at college to be with him. They spend their nights taking turns sleeping by his side at the hospital. His father Wayne, his stepfather Glenn, and I, are at the hospital everyday. The pain Alan has endured these past few weeks is unbelievable.

He is 24 years old and has surfed and snowboarded his whole life. I never could have imagined something like this could happen from a sport he loved so much. I am very grateful he is alive but this accident has truly devastated our whole family.

Updates about Alan's condition

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