By the age of 3, Lucy Harris was riding a bike without training wheels, kicking a soccer ball on a field and feeling the unique sense of joy that sports bring to a person.
Being active was all she had ever known.
Lucy’s love for sports runs so deep that even after a car crash in the summer of 2023 that left her paralyzed from the chest down didn’t stop her from exploring new sports – like fencing and basketball – through a Children’s Hospital adaptive recreation program.
Going into the seventh grade at Newton Middle School in Centennial this fall, Lucy is hoping to take her love of recreation and sports and inspire others to know that their opportunities are limitless.
“I feel like there’s so many people out there who feel like they have to stop living their life because of a spinal cord injury,” said Lucy. “That’s not true – you can still do everything that you want to do.”
In mid-July 2023, Lucy, who was 10 at the time, and her family were on their way to a Children’s Hospital fundraiser. Lucy was sitting behind the driver’s seat with her younger brother to her right. Driving along Interstate 70, near Genesee, the family was rear-ended at a high speed.
Everyone in the vehicle sustained minor injuries, but Jennifer, Lucy’s mom, said that most of the impact of the crash was on Lucy.
Having suffered a spinal cord injury – a complete T4 injury, meaning she has no signals going from her brain past her T4 level in her chest – Lucy was taken to Denver Health Hospital, But within 36 hours, she was transported to the pediatric ICU at Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora.
Lucy had no recollection of the crash.
“I just woke up randomly,” said Lucy. “I had no idea what happened.”
Once she gained consciousness, Jennifer said that Lucy was looking around for her family. Unable to speak due to being intubated, Lucy began to write her brother’s name out with her fingers.
This was just one of many ways that Jennifer saw her daughter’s strong mindset.
Jennifer and her husband began looking at research and clinical trials, trying to figure out where the best places were to get Lucy support and services. However, that plan changed one night when Lucy told her mom that she may not want to do any of those options.
She said maybe she was not meant to walk again and that she just wanted to start living her life.
“We shifted from the mindset of trying to fix her to realizing that she’s not broken,” said Jennifer. “We just need a new jumping off point and work from there.”
Shifting the mindset
Wanting Lucy to be able to keep sports as part of her identity, the family began looking for programs.
Over the course of a 10-week hospital stay, Lucy was introduced to Andrea Colucci, an operations manager for the Adaptive Recreation for Childhood Health program.
The Adaptive Recreation for Childhood Health program is a national program that began in 1968. It aims to help children with physical disabilities find their confidence through adaptive sports and outdoor recreation year-round. Whether it’s through extra instruction or equipment, the program centers around what individual children want and need.
When Lucy learned about the dozens of sports and activities offered, she wanted to sign up immediately.
Just one week before the crash, Lucy was timing herself on how fast she could climb a rock wall. Months later, after the crash, it was the first sport she was participating in with her injuries. Although she was hesitant at first, Lucy made it to the top of the rock wall in just a few attempts.
“I remember getting up there and looking around like, ‘oh my gosh, I’m not attached to my wheelchair anymore,’” said Lucy. “I’m free. I’m just like anyone else.”
Now Lucy is enrolled in archery, sailing, golf, family bike rides, trail biking and horseback riding. Each season, coaches help the children accomplish the goals each child sets, and Lucy said she has demolished her goals.
“You just tell them what you’re able to do and what you’re comfortable with, and they will work with you,” said Lucy. “You feel so active, happy and just able to live your life more.”
The start of Lucy’s advocacy work
Not only has the adaptive recreation program allowed Lucy to continue her love for sports, it has also helped her, and her family, get involved in the community.
“It’s bridging the gap between getting back into the community and developing friendships and a support network,” Colucci said.
Lucy has met a handful of Paralympians and has been enamored by their strength and capabilities. She recently enrolled in the Rock-Climbing Paralympic Panel through the adaptive recreation program.
“I want to inspire other kids like they (the Paralympians) inspired me,” Lucy said.
Since her injury, Lucy said she has noticed a lot in the world that’s not accessible and needs to be changed. She believes that everybody should be able to access the same things, such as sidewalks, playgrounds and getting to and from grocery stores.
As a first step in her advocacy journey, Lucy joined Rep. David Ortiz, who represents Arapahoe and Jefferson counties, on the House floor for Disability Rights Advocacy Day in March.
“It’s important to have that feeling of ‘I’m just the same as everybody else because I’m really not that different,’” Lucy said.