This will be my third year riding in the Courage Classic bike tour, and this year I am honored to dedicate my ride to Kai.
In July 2025, Kai was involved in a devastating motocross accident that left him unresponsive and not breathing. CPR was started at the scene, and he was later found to have sustained a C1 spinal cord injury caused by severe swelling and a large hematoma. Initially, Kai was paralyzed from the neck down and unable to breathe on his own, ultimately requiring both a tracheostomy and ventilator support.
After weeks in the Pediatric ICU, I first met Kai when he arrived on our inpatient rehabilitation unit, where he would spend the next three months continuing his recovery journey. Despite being given a poor prognosis for regaining movement, Kai began proving everyone wrong almost immediately. At first, progress came in the smallest ways: a slight movement in his foot. But that small movement became monumental. It allowed Kai to begin communicating independently by using an adaptive call light in addition to his adaptive communication device, called a Bigmack. Because his cuffed trach and ventilator made speaking difficult, I would record phrases onto the device for him. Naturally, this quickly turned into us creating funny recordings together, my personal favorite being, “Nurse Raenee is the best… this is Kai.”
As Kai continued progressing, so did the fun we had together. We recreated TikTok trends wearing squishy puffer balls on our heads while rapping “Cha Cha” by Zeddy Will, celebrated every milestone, and found joy even during the hardest days. And those milestones kept coming. A toe wiggle became stronger movement. Stronger movement became breathing independently. Then standing. Then walking.
One day, after returning to work, Kai called me into his room because he wanted to show me something. He slowly lifted his hand off the bed, opened his fist, and dropped a #rideforkai ribbon into my hand. The day before his discharge from the hospital, Kai had progressed enough with his fine motor skills to sign that same ribbon himself. To this day, I still wear it attached to my hospital badge. That ribbon is a daily reminder of the perseverance, resilience, and strength I am privileged to witness in patients like Kai. While #rideforkai originally began because of Kai’s love for motocross (his riding definitely involves far more adrenaline and much cooler videos), I want to dedicate this year’s ride and training to embodying the same determination Kai has shown throughout his recovery.
Since I am part of the rehab cycling club, all donations will support the Adaptive Recreation for Childhood Health (ARCH) program at Children's Hospital Colorado. ARCH provides children living with disabilities the opportunity to participate in adaptive sports and recreational activities, helping them rediscover confidence, independence, and joy after life-changing injuries and diagnoses. Every donation helps provide these incredible kids with opportunities to keep doing what they love, even if it looks a little different than before.
Thank you for supporting my ride, supporting ARCH, and supporting kids like Kai, who continue to rise above every challenge.
