Courageous Kids Learn to Ski

Upwards of 30 children who battle for their lives on a daily basis continued to conquer their illnesses through adventure yesterday as they took to the ski slopes of Sugarbush Resort in Waitsfield, Vermont.

Utilizing the specifically-trained volunteers from Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports, the only year-round disabled sports program with daily programming, Kids of Courage and its entourage of more than 100 physicians, paramedics, nurses, physical therapists, and specially trained lay staff helped these kids forget the tubes, pumps and needles that go along with their personal daily challenges—and taught them to ski.

“This was the first time that any of our children skied and it was simply an incredible day, not just physically but emotionally as well,” said Ari Dobkin, director of programming for Kids of Courage.

“It was a monumental physical feat for many including Itzy Kagan, who is the longest surviving quadriplegic on a ventilator in the world. It was such a liberating experience for someone who is trapped in his own body.

“We cannot begin to fathom from a social standpoint what this accomplished for him, to have been able to hang out on the slopes with his peers.”

More than four months of planning and coordination took place prior to Ski Madness Weekend 2010 in order to provide the critical supportive medical care that would be necessary to make this first-time ski experience not only fun, but safe.

Kids from across the country, including Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, Florida, and Philadelphia, flew in to Burlington to learn to ski with Vermont Adaptive. Others traveled by bus from New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Connecticut.

The group spent Shabbos at a local Sheraton Hotel, and were joined by Shluchim Rabbi and Mrs. Yitzchok Raskin, Directors of Chabad of Vermont for a special Melava Malka.