As of early February, Lais Souza was transferred to a Miami Hospital specializing in the treatment of spinal cord injuries. Souza, an ex-Olympic gymnast and skiing hopeful from Brazil, injured her back and suffered a spinal cord injury while she was preparing for competition as a skier at the Sochi Winter Games.
Souza had been receiving treatment at the University of Utah hospital since she was first paralyzed after colliding with a tree during a training accident back on January 27th. The accident left the Brazilian Olympic hopeful unable to breathe on her own or move her legs and arms. As of early February, Souza remained on a ventilator after being transferred to Miami. Although her spinal cord was not completely severed in the accident, she is still unable to move her arms and legs and doctors are uncertain about her long-term recovery.
The 25-year-old skier remains in a serious but stable condition, but her doctors say it is too soon to know whether she will be permanently paralyzed. About a week after Souza’s injury, the Brazilian Olympic Committee said she was likely to remain in an acute care facility in Miami for at least another 60 days. Souza previously competed in the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics as a gymnast before transitioning to the winter sport for the 2014 games.
Acrobatic Skiing and Dangers of Catastrophic Injury
Acrobatic skiing, known more commonly as aerials, was added as an event to the Winter Games in 1994. Skiers receive marks for their display, similar to gymnastics. In an interview in November, Souza explained how she prayed before each run to help her overcome any fear. She said:
“I say ‘Please God help me.”
Felippe Rodrigues, a spokesman for Brazil’s winter sports federation, said he was expecting official confirmation today that Brazil had secured the final spot for the aerial competition at Sochi following an unfortunate injury to an athlete from Belarus. That place would have gone to Souza, and now will be made available to an alternate, Joselane Rodrigues dos Santos.
Santos and Souza have known each other since competing in gymnastics as young children, and the two female athletes have roomed together throughout the quest to reach the Olympics. Santos has stood vigil at Souza’s bedside since the accident took place Rodrigues added:
‘‘She’s devastated. I couldn’t even imagine what’s going on in her head. I think she doesn’t know about the spot. We’d love her to go but it will be her decision.”
4 Spinal Cord Injury Medical Terms
The following terms are used to describe the severity and prognosis related the vast majority of spinal cord injuries.
- Complete Injury: In severe cases, a spinal cord is completely severed or a segment is destroyed, resulting in total paralysis below the injury site. The effects of a complete injury are permanent.
- Incomplete Injury: A majority of SCI cases involve an incomplete injury. An accident may cause fractures or compression of the vertebrae. Blood flow may be temporarily blocked and leaking spinal fluid can also fill the spinal canal, placing pressure on the cord and producing temporary or partial paralysis.
- Ataxia: A muscle coordination deficit due not to weakness, rigidity, spasticity or sensory loss, but to uncoordinated movement.
- Injury Level: This refers to the location of the spinal cord injury. There are normally 33 vertebrae in humans, including the five that are fused to form the sacrum (tail bone). The higher the injury on the spinal cord, the greater the deficits the injury victim must learn to cope with. One of the key injury levels is C6. A C6 spinal cord injury is essentially the highest level of complete injury a person may experience and still function independently.
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