Vermont Ski Racing Safety Nonprofit Gives $135K to Help Spinal Cord Injuries

A nonprofit group that helps promote ski racing safety has awarded more than $135,000 in grants to provide adaptive sports gear to people with spinal cord injuries.

Among the recipients from the Kelly Brush Foundation is 25-year-old Brandon Garner of Indianapolis. He suffered a spinal cord injury while playing rugby that left him paralyzed from the shoulders down and dependent on a ventilator. He was given $11,000 for a wheelchair customized for power soccer.

Ski Racing Safety grants were awarded to seven clubs totaling nearly $23,000.

Kelly Brush Davisson and her family started the foundation in 2006 after she suffered a severe spinal cord injury while racing in NCAA Div. 1 competition as a member of the Middlebury College ski team.