‘Myaccident made me feel like I had nothingtolose’

“I remember thinking that I didn’t have my fingers anymore. That was a really horrible experience. I don’t think anybody should have to go through that.”

Wilkie was back at school aweeklater.

“Itwasalotforhertoprocess, she needed constant support. It was quite difficult for her to leave the hospital and come out into the real world with the injury, it was such a harsh reminder of what had happened, how things had changed,” Huster said.“Thefirstdayhomewe just did a little walk outside.

“But once she was home, it was like she just got a grip on things and said ‘OK, now what?’ ”

Already a promising cross-country skier, she attended her’s club’s out-oftown training camp just two weeksaftertheaccident.

“The training was something she’d done before the accident, and so it just gave herasenseofnormalcyand something to do,” Huster said. “The training camp she went to, the coaches were very supportive. I remember sending bandage changes and her medicines along, the coaches looked after her wound.”

Wilkie also competes in able-bodied races. Her coaches helped her develop an extra wrap to help her better grip her ski pole. She’d like to be like Paralympic star Brian McKeever, who races both Paralympic and able-bodied.

Her able-bodied racing improved after her accident. She won bronze at her last national championships.

“That was kind of a surprise,” Wilkie said. “I don’t know why. Maybe because I was more determined. My accident made me feel like I had nothing to lose anymore. And I just worked my way up from there. You realize how much you depend on things (when you almost lose them).”

Huster praised the Paralympic community for welcoming them from the “very get-go.”

“Because everybody has similar stories to tell,” she said. “Even if it was a birth defect, everybody has similar adjustments to go through. And all of the parents have worked very hard to support their children in reaching beyond what maybe they initially thought they maybe could do.”