I was privileged to hear Kevin Pearce, along with two of his brothers, David and Adam, speak at the National Down Syndrome Convention about two weeks ago. We were 'teased' with a clip from this documentary film, and I finally got around to seeing the rest of it.
Wow. This is... not an easy film to watch, and mostly because it is very honest, and very real. You travel the journey along with Kevin, his family and his friends, and you will witness the sometimes extreme life of 'extreme' athletes. The documentary does explore the levels to which these sports are going, with increasingly complex tricks, on higher pipes, which mean more air, but also worse falls, as well as the issue of health insurance- which often does not cover what these athletes do.
At age 18, Kevin Pearce seemingly popped up out of nowhere, and began winning all kinds of competitions, and was for all intents and purposes the only real rival for Shaun White on the snowboard. Within four years, they were both preparing for the Vancouver Winter Olympics, when came a fateful practice on a pipe in Utah, less than 60 days before.
The accident (yes, it was captured on video)- compared to some others you will see through the course of the documentary actually doesn't LOOK too terrible, though the results were a catastrophic traumatic brain injury (TBI).
Afterward, there is a lot of healing and readjustment that has to take place, not the least of which was six months in the hospital, and this is the part that I found captivating. In many ways, looking at Kevin and hearing him speak, you would not know the long road he has traveled in recovery. And he wanted nothing more than to snowboard again. This despite doctor's dire warnings against hitting his head again, and the worries expressed by his family,and probably no one more than his older brother David, who has Down Syndrome.
Kevin's journey to realizing and accepting his new limitations is a long road, and it took many 'puzzle pieces' coming together, such as trying a small jump on a snowboard and being unable to make it, meeting someone else who had multiple brain injuries, and finally, the death of a pipe skier at the same place he had his accident. All of these things forced him to look at his new reality, to see what his strengths still are, and work towards a new goal and purpose. There is a wonderful parallel made at one point, between Kevin's accepting his new reality and limitations, and his brother David finally trying to accept the reality that he has Down Syndrome.
Ultimately, that purpose materialized in a foundation called "Love Your Brain". LoveYourBrain is "the message that embodies our positive approach to brain injury prevention and recovery. Everything we do is about connecting, educating and empowering people to promote a brain healthy lifestyle."
173,000+ people treated for a TBI each year are 19 years old or younger, and there is a growing awareness of concussions among student athletes. Kevin's story, and that of his family, is a great one to share to talk about this issue, and experience it in a very vivid way.
Thank you for your post. At the high school where I teach, concussions are taken very seriously. While they are not TBIs, there are a lot of misconceptions about concussions and the damage they can do.
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