SPINAL CORD INJURY HASN’T DEFEATED L.V. ATHLETE

Shelby Estocado uses adaptive equipment to compete in a variety of sports, including skiing.

By Hillary Davis

Shelby Estocado slammed into the snow in a scorpion position, then tumbled and landed on her back in intense pain, struggling to breathe and speak.

In a flash, a life-altering spinal cord injury while snowboarding in Lee Canyon last winter put the Las Vegas native in a wheelchair. But she chooses to focus on what she can do today.

That still includes Crossfit, hockey, mountain biking, camping, off-roading, driving a car and skiing — all with adaptive equipment. Some of these are familiar activities, others new, and with skiing especially, not by half-measure.

The 24-year-old Estocado wants to compete in the Paralympics, which is something her mentors think is a real possibility after a few weeks into training with a specialized monoski. That’s where the athlete is seated facing forward over a single, wide ski and guides herself with shortened poles.

Estocado, 24, suffered a spinal cord injury while snowboarding last winter.

“Whatever comes my way today, I will fully invest in that. That’s what makes me happy, just living in the moment,” she said. “It’s really humbling when people say I inspire them, but my goal is just for me to be happy, is just to keep grinding and doing what I used to do and still being Shelby.”

Softball and basketball were her main sports as a child, and softball took her to the University of Tulsa after she graduated from Bishop Gorman High School in 2014. In 2016, she also joined the USA Baseball women’s national team.

In 2018, she graduated from college and came back home to work for a medical technology company. She went with co-workers to Lee Canyon on Feb. 23, 2020, for a day on the slopes.

It was a day that changed her life.

She knew as soon as she hit the jump that she had lost control. The icy impact cracked Estocado’s sternum and left her with a T6 spinal cord injury. A bystander quickly realized the severity of her crash and pushed ski patrol to call in an airlift to University Medical Center.

Estocado spent about a week there before being transferred to Craig Hospital, a premier spinal cord facility in Colorado, where she spent six weeks rehabilitating.