Teen in accident defies the odds, walks again
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BUHL (KBOI/KMVT/CNN) — After doctors told a 15-year-old girl hurt in a snowboarding accident she would never walk again, the teenager rallied to defy the odds.
Lexi Bingham lived for sports – golf, basketball, softball and snowboarding – before a snowboarding accident in February 2015.
The teenager landed wrong and thought she broke both of her arms and legs, but she and her cousin quickly discovered her injuries were worse than they thought.
“I was just lying there and told my cousin, ‘Take my board off,’ and he was like, ‘It’s already off.’ I was like, ‘Move my legs around.’ He’s doing it, and I was like ‘I can’t feel anything!'” Lexi said.
Doctors in Salt Lake City, UT, told the sports-loving teen that several vertebrae in her neck were broken. Her mother knew that could mean her daughter would be a quadriplegic, and doctors confirmed the teen would likely never walk again.
Lexi was devastated by the news. Sometimes she wished she were dead.
“I would get so mad sometimes,” she said. “I would just think, ‘Let me die. Just do this.'”
In all, Lexi spent three months in the hospital. Every day, a therapist would come in and ask if the teen could move anything.
One day, Lexi was able to move her toe.
Over the course of a few months, that movement eventually led to standing.
“I stood up for like 30 seconds, and that was like a huge deal. We were all cheering and everything,” Lexi said.
Now, the teenager is walking again and working on running.
“I can run – not up to speed, doesn’t look pretty – but I can run,” she said.
Lexi says she’s glad that she didn’t give up when she wanted to die. She plans to cherish her life and accomplish all her goals.
From here, the teen wants to regain full mobility in the right side of her body. She hopes to climb Idaho’s tallest peak by September 2017.