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Help me stay in the saddle

5 years after a broken neck and cut spinal cord in a springboard diving team accident, I can walk and ride again. But I need some help to stay in the saddle.

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Help me stay in the saddle

Help me stay in the saddle

Help me stay in the saddle

Help me stay in the saddle

Help me stay in the saddle

5 years after a broken neck and cut spinal cord in a springboard diving team accident, I can walk and ride again. But I need some help to stay in the saddle.

5 years after a broken neck and cut spinal cord in a springboard diving team accident, I can walk and ride again. But I need some help to stay in the saddle.

5 years after a broken neck and cut spinal cord in a springboard diving team accident, I can walk and ride again. But I need some help to stay in the saddle.

5 years after a broken neck and cut spinal cord in a springboard diving team accident, I can walk and ride again. But I need some help to stay in the saddle.

Leesha Davis
Leesha Davis
Leesha Davis
Leesha Davis
1 Campaign |
clackamas, United States
$115 USD 4 backers
0% of $12,000 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal
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Thank you Shout Out

$1 USD
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Thank You

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Autographed Photo

$25 USD
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Patch or Banner

$1,000 USD
0 claimed

Today is my "Sorta" Birthday

Today Oct 14 @ about 6 pm will be 5 years since my disastrous meeting with a diving board.
People say all the time that "Life is short". They are right.

It started out as a great day, I had a lead on an apartment near school, hoped to hear about a job interview soon, I was in line for an A average and my Computer Programing professor was really pushing for me to change ...majors. Seems I had a strange natural ability with Binary, Hex and Decimal languages.
I loved it and was thinking about changing.

My horses were doing great. Trouble was ready to hit full barrel speed and little mischief was started under saddle.
The day was good and I was starting one of the highlights of my day, Diving practice.
I was looking forward to the next month when the official team practice would start and my first competition in years.
I was doing great, better than the last time I was on a team and this time it was not just a college team. We were also a USA Dive team.
I was determined to finally have pictures of me competing.

We worked for 2 hours on my inward dives, facing the board and spin towards the board. I was notorious for being less than an inch from the board as I passed.
We were working on moving me farther away. By the end of practice I was consistently 2 inches from the board. yey!

So my coach had me change up my dives for the last few and I switched to back dives.
I talked to a friend in Arizona before my last few dives. I don't remember what we were talking about but I promised to call her back in 10-15 min, I only had 2 more dives to do.
When I stepped onto that board and started my dive I didn't have a care in the world.
Now a diving board is designed to carry you away from the board, with a back dive you add even more force carrying you away.
It was like physics and gravity failed me all at once. I did my dive; I was told later that it was great. I just didn't move an inch; the whole dive was above the board.
I saw it coming but didn't really understand what I was seeing.

I opened my eyes under the water and there was red everywhere. I was like "Oh crap that was dumb" and then I realized I couldn't move.
My worst nightmare was starting. Paralyzed from the neck down. No riding, no swimming, no chasing my brothers and sisters so many no's in my future.. I hate the word NO !

So many people jumped in to get me. I remember seeing more then I could count swimming to me from all angles.
I remember "Morgan" who was not supposed to be in the water as she had just got out of the ER because her pacemaker was acting up.
The look on her face will be frozen in my memory, the look of horror when I broke the surface of the water and said "My neck my neck I can't move", I swear her eyes said "holy crap the dead thing talks".

I remember asking the Fire chief not to tell my mom I was paralyzed and how bad it was as she was over an hour away and it was rush hour, she has a led foot and I couldn't have her crashing to get to me.
They held the phone to my ear while she tried to convince me to get a friend to drive me to the hospital not knowing it was really, really bad. Emt's took the phone and told her I was paralyzed and had to go now.
I remember the ambulance ride, they were flying. The engine racing, the EMT's talking to the hospital in hushed voices because they saw me listening. "She took a full hit to the head, she seems to have some sensations, Phantom limbs, Legs not responding, I don't know how she is conscious"

Do you know how terrifying it is to watch the ceiling tiles pass by as you are being wheeled around the hospital? Knowing that this could be the view of the world now?
My body was starting hypothermia from being soaking wet still in my suit, they had me wrapped in many heated blankets but my body was shacking sending nurses scrambling for more heaters for fear of my broken neck snapping the rest of the way.
There were glimmers of hope that I have told people about before, but I think I over stated them more for my own mind. I still have moments of pure terror when something goes numb or stops working.
They had hoped that the tingling feeling was my cord waking up from just shock allowing me to wiggle fingers and move my arms a bit. Unfortunately with the results from the MRI told the whole story. It was bad, very, very bad. C-3 shattered and embedded in my spinal cord and every move, shift bump sent the shards deeper in.
They said my odds without surgery were dead with the next big shove. I had one chance at the surgery and only one which had be right then.
Odds with surgery were Dead on the table, Quadriplegic or if I had all the luck in the world I could have some use of my arms.. ever the optimistic I hoped for arms saying "no worries, I can get a seat belt for my saddle, just give me my arms back"

I still don't understand how I have my legs. It makes no sense to me. I wish I had asked someone to video my first steps. There are so many moments I don't have pictures or video of.
I think I was afraid to ask someone. Not really sure why, almost like by capturing the moment would cause me to loose what I regained.. I know stupid huh?
I remember holding the walker with a death grip with super shaky legs. I walk half of one side of the nurse station. I saw and heard other patients cheering, I wanted to cry but I fought it.
You see, I was not just in the hospital. I was in the Neuro Trauma/ICU unit. Everyone there was facing paralysis, massive head or brain injuries. It is rare for someone to be wheeled in yet walk out.
But I did. It is that fact that scares me because of one simple question. Why? Why can I walk? Why was I the lucky one? Just Why?

Life is short. At any moment it could end. Any moment your life could be so much different

So today is my sorta Birthday.. Today I am 5 years old

What We Need & What You Get

A break down for folks in more detail:

  • I need a saddle the fits me and my horse so I do not fall out of the saddle again. It will be modified further for a special attachment for when my legs give out.
  • I need more Therapy including pool time to take the impact off my joints
  • Re-Training for me and my horse. I have been riding from the age of 3. I need help to remember how I trained my horse. Plus my horse deserves to have training time with someone that does not have balance issues while I get better.
  • I hope to have thank you gifts but none available at this time

Thank You's

Thank you to everyone who helped me so far.
Morgan for jumping in when she should not have, the entire swim team for running across the pool deck to jump in like a sea of lemmings to my rescue, EMT's and Fire fighters for joking with me.
Thank you to the hospital for not shaving my head, though mom was on standby for buying hats.
To Wendy for making me that awesome poster and getting it to me before the surgery, I still have it. Also for helping me move my horses
To my family for racing to me even though once I felt safe with you all there I seemed unable to stay conscious for long stretches of time. I still liked seeing glimpses or you
My sister for acting fast when I came awake yelling for her, asking did they push something. Being a nurse she understood what I meant instantly and got nurses to stop the meds. Turns out I do not do well with potassium IV or pain meds. Man that stuff sucks !
Thank you to my grandparents for taking care of me. Loved watching British comedy’s with Grandpa Davis, playing along to games shows with Grandma Davis.
Thanks to Grandma Kleppe for keeping me supplied with apple juice, I have no idea why I was so addicted to it, and for taking me to your Solon in the old people home to wash my hair. It was so sweet being escorted by sweet old ladies making sure I didn't fall
Thanks to Bill for driving me to my appointments

Thank you mom for being the first face I saw when they wheeled me into my room, and not an mad as I thought you were gonna be
Thank you to my dad for being there when I fully woke after surgery.
Thank you to my sister for making me laugh when I came to for a few minutes after surgery "Leesha you look great I think they did lypo while in there cause you look thin" lol still makes me laugh.

Thanks to my friends from high school that came out of the wood works. Matt for taking me to midnight Burger and pie runs. Jennifer for Hot chocolate. Oh I know I am forgetting people.....

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