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Community raising funds for injured local skier Kailyn Forsberg

Randy Wyrick
Vail Daily
Kailyn Forsberg has some sensation in her feet and lower extremities, but is paralyzed from her waist down.
Special to the Daily |

To contribute

To help, contribute through the Vail Valley Charitable Fund at vvcf.org, or online at http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/care-for-kailyn-forsberg-/335528

You may send cards of good wishes to Kailyn and her family c/o Gypsum Elementary School, PO Box 570 Gypsum, CO 81637.

If You Go ...

What: CFK Benefit for Kailyn Forsberg

When: 5-9 p.m. Aug. 28

Where: Brush Creek Pavilion

Tickets: $25 donation

Information: The Vail Valley Charitable Fund is hosting a benefit for Kailyn Forsberg. Go to http://www.vvcf.org/help-the-cause

EAGLE COUNTY — Young Kailyn Forsberg took a horrific fall. Her community is helping her up as best it can.

The Vail Valley Charitable Fund is hosting a benefit for Forsberg, to help her family offset some of the mountain of medical expenses.

There have been a few bake sales, and some other good-hearted people are doing what they can, but the first big fundraiser is set for late August in Eagle.



Some sensation

Kailyn is paralyzed from the waist down.



She has an C8-B injury rating. The B means she has sensation below her point of injury.

When someone is moving around her hands and feet, she can feel it.

“Kailyn said the other day how weird it would be if she didn’t have any sensation,” her father, Mitch, said. “That she can feel touch … it is reassuring to her.”

She’s driven to remarkable degrees. The same drive that made her one of the nation’s top young skiers she is now applying to her rehab.

Medical bills

Mitch tries not to think about the medical bills, and does not yet have a full scope of what they’re going to be. It’s a smaller version of the same sensation he had right after Kailyn’s crash.

“When I think back to the day Kailyn got hurt, interacting with ski patrol, flight for life, and ER docs, it was like they were all speaking in code,” Mitch said. “It was like they all knew how badly Kailyn was hurt, but they wouldn’t tell me.”

“I’m having that same sort of feeling now with the cost. I can’t seem get any definitive information,” Mitch said.

One thing he knows for certain. The Vail Valley Charitable Fund is trying to help him get ahead of the curve.

“The people on that team are just running with it, and keeping me out of it as much as possible. It’s something for which we are so thankful,” Mitch said.

Kailyn, 15, is an Eagle Valley High School student. Mitch is principal of Gypsum Elementary School.

Kailyn was walking at nine months and on skis at 1 year old.

“She’s a sweet, caring, feisty mountain girl who is a lot of fun to be around, and is one of the toughest kids we know,” Mitch said.

How it happened

Kailyn had already finished second twice in April’s USASA nationals at Copper Mountain, when a crash in the slopestyle event left her with a broken pelvis, dislocated hip, and a fractured vertebrae impacting the spinal cord.

She was immediately air lifted to Children’s Hospital in Aurora, where she underwent extensive surgery.

The medical bills are expected to top seven figures, and insurance won’t cover it all.

Donations have been coming through the Vail Valley Charitable Fund and youcaring.com.

The initial goal was $150,000 by Kailyn’s 16th birthday, Jan. 24. It’s going to take more than that.

Staff Writer Randy Wyrick can be reached at 970-748-2935 or rwyrick@vaildaily.com.


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