Sacred Heart University athlete suffers spine injury in Colorado skiing accident
FAIRFIELD — Like many college students, Anna Buhrmann planned a fun trip with her friends as spring break approached at Sacred Heart University.
The field hockey player was in her second semester at the Fairfield school when she went to Colorado with her friends, Kenzie Riccardi, a native of the mountainous state, and Alyssa Cunningham. The three athletes discovered they had similar skiing experiences — Buhrmann, who is from Germany, having gone with her family to Austria for annual ski excursions — and wanted to share the slopes.
The first day, March 5, was picturesque as they glided down double black diamond runs, the most advanced trails, with Riccardi’s parents. On the second day, March 6, the trio went on a blue slope, an intermediate trail, on Copper Mountain.
“It wasn’t anything crazy at all,” Riccardi said.
But Buhrmann, 19, ran into a bump on the slope, causing her to crash and hit a tree.
With a serious spinal injury, medical personnel airlifted the student to the hospital, where she underwent an emergency sevenhour
surgery. More than a week later, Buhrmann remained in the intensive care unit Tuesday, recovering and surrounded by her friends and family who flew from her home in Germany, Riccardi said in a phone call Tuesday night.
The crash snapped two of Buhrmann’s vertebrae and severed her spinal cord, causing paralysis below her shoulders, according to Riccardi. Due to the severity of the injury, Riccardi was told that the chances of Buhrmann making a full recovery aren’t high, “but there’s always a possibility, and she’s in a positive mindset to kind of work towards that.”
“She’s been very positive
about it,” Riccardi said. “It’s good to see her smile.”
Since the incident, Riccardi and Cunningham created a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for Buhrmann’s medical expenses, including rehabilitation, and her parents’ travel to the United States. As of Tuesday morning, the fund has raised $196,000 of its $300,000 goal.
Riccardi, with Buhrmann’s permission, also posted about Buhrmann’s incident to her Instagram page, garnering more than 28,500 likes by Wednesday morning.
Buhrmann, who is on Sacred Heart’s Division 1 field hockey team, has received support from her coach, team and the field hockey community across the country, according to a university spokesperson.
“She’s very grateful for all the support that she’s been given,” Riccardi said. “And it really took her by surprise because a lot of the people that have shared her story and donated and helped are people that we don’t even know that live in different states all over the country and in different parts of Germany that she’s never met.”
“I think that’s just kind of motivating her because she sees how much people care for her, for her situation,” Riccardi continued. “Overall, she’s just very, very thankful.”
Riccardi said the next steps in Buhrmann’s recovery are determining which facility would best suit her recovery. Buhrmann also plans to continue her studies at Sacred Heart, a university spokesperson and Riccardi said.
“From day one, Anna was like, ‘Oh, we’re going to go to school together; that’s the plan,’ ” Riccardi said. “I think that’s definitely driving her forward because she loved the community that surrounded her there.”