May 2014 - Parks & Recreation - 24

People for Parks
Park Gym Paralympian

Jennifer French's ongoing journey from tragedy to mobility benefits from adaptive
outdoor gym
By Samantha Bartram

I

magine enjoying a sunny day on the slopes, sliding down the side of a
mountain on your snowboard. One moment you're feeling free and in control - the next, you've hit a patch of ice and careened into a stand of
trees. That's the last thing entrepreneur, paralympian and quadriplegic Jennifer
French remembers before waking in a hospital bed to learn she'd suffered a severe spinal-cord injury. " At that point, your life just stops, " French says - but
only for a time. Today, French is a role model to thousands of people of all
ability levels, from her Olympic sailing fans to the folks she trains with at her
neighborhood park's adaptive outdoor gym.

Jennifer French's snowboarding accident
didn't diminish her commitment to health
and fitness , and a nearby outdoor adaptive
gym helps to support that dedication.

22

Parks & Recreation

| M AY 2 0 1 4 | W W W. N R PA . O R G

In 1998, when French worked for
one of the many dot-com startup
companies that fed the tech boom, her
motto was " work hard, play hard. "
Her company had just gone public,
and to celebrate, " Two dozen of us
rented this slope-side house for the
weekend to snowboard and have fun, "
French says. This type of fast-paced
recreation was a big part of French's
life. She and her then-boyfriend, now
her husband, frequently went wind
surfing and boating up the coast of
New England, where the pair lived
at the time. But, after her accident,
French's active pursuits were put on
hold in favor of mastering tasks she
previously took for granted. " You
have to relearn everything, " she says.
" Brushing your teeth, getting out of
bed, driving - there was a big learning curve for all that. At the time [I
was going through my physical therapy], I was also introduced to adapted sports and therapeutic recreation
through Northeast Passage out of
the University of New Hampshire. "
There, French saw the world of active
recreation reopen to her, along with
the realization that with work and
dedication, she could regain much of
the mobility she previously enjoyed.
In 1999, French underwent surgery
to implant a Functional Electrical
Simulation (FES) neural prosthetic
system, which would allow her to
stand and even walk short distances. She and her husband moved to
Ohio to take part in clinical trials



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