Kelsey has always found freedom in motion. She grew up skiing out east since she was a toddler. She spent her summers surfing the Jersey Shore and found her dream career in pediatric nursing. Then, at 27, a snow-tubing accident broke her spine, leaving her with a T11 incomplete spinal cord injury.
“The first thing that went through my head was that I just ruined my life. I’m never going to ski again. I’m never going to be a nurse again. I’m never going to surf again. It’s all gone.”
Just months after her injury, everything in Kelsey’s body told her she needed to try the things she loved again.
That first day back, Kelsey not only loved skiing again; she loved it more than before. What began as simply getting back on skis quickly became something bigger. Kelsey progressed faster than anyone expected, and her talent didn’t go unnoticed.
Last winter, Kelsey was discovered by the NSCD’s Competition Center and moved to Colorado to pursue ski racing. This season, she won her first World Cup race and earned a spot on Team USA for the 2026 Paralympics in Milano Cortina. Kelsey is now a Paralympian. And the timing could not be more powerful. The Paralympic Opening Ceremony takes place exactly five years to the day after her accident.
Today, Kelsey is still a nurse, still surfs every summer, and now ski races on the world stage.