--- title: "Community Spotlight: Jasper Fidler" description: Jasper Fidler expected life to revolve around typical teenage milestones, instead a catastrophic rock-climbing accident landed her in a hospital far from home. image: https://blog.christopherreeve.org/hubfs/Blog%20Featured%20Image-2.png --- [Community](https://www.christopherreeve.org/community) [Voices from the Community](https://blog.christopherreeve.org/en) [Community Spotlight: Jasper Fidler](https://blog.christopherreeve.org/en/spotlight-story-jasper) # Community Spotlight: Jasper Fidler The year she turned 15, Jasper Fidler expected life to revolve around typical teenage milestones, from getting her braces off to securing the learner’s permit that would lead to a driver’s license. Instead, a catastrophic rock-climbing accident landed her in a hospital far from home and sent shockwaves through her family. ![Jasper Mitchell](https://blog.christopherreeve.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Jasper%20Mitchell.jpeg?width=368&height=491&name=Jasper%20Mitchell.jpeg) The injuries were staggering: her feet and ankles were shattered, her collarbone and wrists broken. But it was the continuous stretch of burst and fractured vertebrae – beginning at L1 and extending all the way up to T9 – that was most worrying. In the early weeks, Jasper’s parents, Kori Mitchell and Greg Fidler, provided the critical, day-to-day support she needed in the pediatric ICU; her stepfather, Chris Mitchell, became the family’s research arm, untangling insurance and working to understand the world of spinal cord injuries. As Jasper’s recovery inched forward, the family’s questions about her future only multiplied. *What are her next steps? Can she get better?* But finding answers wasn’t easy. Mitchell spent countless hours bouncing from one medical website to another, gathering “a little bit over here, a little bit over there.” “We were like, ‘Where can we go to find the information the fastest,’” Mitchell says. Finally, acting on a tip from a nurse, the family discovered the [National Paralysis Resource Center (NPRC)](https://www.christopherreeve.org/todays-care/paralysis-help-overview/about-the-paralysis-resource-center/) at the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation and its vast digital library brimming with more than two hundred booklets and fact sheets about anything and everything related to [spinal cord injury](https://www.christopherreeve.org/todays-care/living-with-paralysis/health/causes-of-paralysis/spinal-cord-injury/). “I remember thinking, ‘Wow, this is comprehensive,’” Chris says. “Everybody else had all these little pieces, but we kept coming back to Reeve because all the stuff we needed was there.” Funded by the [Administration for Community Living](https://acl.gov/), the NPRC is the only national program that directly serves the 5.4 million Americans living with paralysis. Since opening its doors in 2002, the NPRC has connected tens of thousands of individuals and caregivers with one-on-one peer mentoring and distributed more than $50 million in [Quality of Life Grants](https://www.christopherreeve.org/todays-care/get-support/grants-for-non-profits/program-overview/)to organizations across the country that increase independence for people living with paralysis. Most critically, its [Information Specialists](https://www.christopherreeve.org/todays-care/get-support/connect-with-an-information-specialist/)serve as a lifeline for families in the days after injury and far beyond, helping them move through complex feelings and challenges, from securing housing near rehabilitation hospitals and returning to work to finding a physiatrist in rural communities. For Jasper’s mother Kori, the NPRC’s extensive library helped the family navigate the unknowns, from [pressure injuries](https://www.christopherreeve.org/todays-care/living-with-paralysis/health/secondary-conditions/skin-care/#pressureinjury) to [bowel](https://www.christopherreeve.org/todays-care/living-with-paralysis/health/secondary-conditions/bowel-management/) and [bladder management](https://www.christopherreeve.org/todays-care/living-with-paralysis/health/secondary-conditions/bladder-management/). “It seemed like whatever new thing that came up, we were able to find something about it through the Reeve Foundation or be led to a place where we could find the answers we needed,” she says. Four years after the accident, Jasper’s life is, in many ways, like that of any other college student. She zips to her classes at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington on an electric bike, hangs out with friends and dreams of a career as a pediatric physical therapist. But the effects of her SCI are ever-present. She can no longer regulate her body’s temperature and – because of lost sensation caused by nerve damage – worries constantly about pressure injuries. After intensive rehabilitation at [Shirley Ryan AbilityLab](https://www.sralab.org/) in Chicago, she can walk short distances with help from ankle orthotics, but the severity of the injuries will require still more surgeries. “I can’t lie: every day is a battle,” she says, adding, “But I’m healthy. I’m breathing. I’m able. And just to be able to say that is a privilege in itself. We’ve seen firsthand how quickly that can change. It doesn't get easier, but you get more understanding and I think it's going to help me build my future in the best ways possible.” *To learn more about the National Paralysis Resource Center, please visit* [*www.ChristopherReeve.org*](http://www.ChristopherReeve.org)*.* #### Join Our Movement ### What started as an idea has become a national movement. With your support, we can influence policy and inspire lasting change. [Become an Advocate](https://www.votervoice.net/REEVE/Register) ![](https://www.christopherreeve.org/wp-content/themes/reeve/assets/images/fpo/blog-dc.png) ### About the Author - Reeve Staff This blog was written by the Reeve Foundation for educational purposes. For more information please reach out to information@christopherreeve.org [![Twitter](https://blog.christopherreeve.org/hubfs/Icon-twitter-square.svg)](https://twitter.com/reevefoundation) [![Facebook](https://blog.christopherreeve.org/hubfs/Icon-facebook-square.svg)](https://www.facebook.com/ReeveFoundation) [![LinkedIn](https://blog.christopherreeve.org/hubfs/Icon-linkedin-square.svg)](https://www.linkedin.com/company/christopher-and-dana-reeve-foundation) ![Reeve Staff](https://blog.christopherreeve.org/hubfs/blog-authors/reeve-blog-author-default.png) The opinions expressed in these blogs are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation. The National Paralysis Resource Center website is supported by the Administration for Community Living (ACL), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $10,000,000 with 100 percent funding by ACL/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by, ACL/HHS, or the U.S. Government. [Back to top](https://blog.christopherreeve.org/en/spotlight-story-jasper#top)