Noah Jacobson is lucky to be alive. That he is able to be back on the ski slopes doing the thing he loves just a year after a near fatal crash in Utah is more the result of excellent medical care, strong support from family and friends, hard work and determination.
It was in February of last year that Jacobson, skiing with his brother and friends in Utah, slipped his right ski into a tree trunk. He swung around and slid downhill head first until his helmet crown smashed into another tree. In a snow bank and unable to use his right arm, he was able to pull himself up enough to keep from sinking until help arrived.
Shaken, but not aware of the seriousness of his injury, Jacobson finished his journey down the slope, telling friends all he needed was some time in a hot tub and a massage. One of his companions gave a more sobering assessment. “You don’t need a hot tub, you need an ambulance” he said.
Doctors discovered that he had broken five vertebrae in his neck. Instead of a soak in a hot tub, It took five hours of spine fusion surgery and months of rehabilitation to repair the damage of the fall.
Jacobson is no ski novice. A 45-year-old wealth management professional, he grew up in Bishop, California, near Mammoth Mountain and has been skiing for more than four decades. He said he has had hundreds of falls, but before his spill last year had never broken a bone.
The first thing that went right even before the fall was that Jacobsen was wearing a helmet equipped with the latest technology.
“I am thankful for a good helmet and MIPS Technology,” he said, referencing a Swedish technology that is thought to provide the best protection against head trauma available on the market.
Jacobson recently returned to the scene of the accident and nailed his helmet to the tree that fractured the head covering and broke his neck.
Once out of surgery, he began what he called “Kitchen-sink rehabilitation,” trying to do everything right and trying to take charge of his own body.
“You should take ownership of your rehabilitation and not just take everyone’s advice,” he said. “I want to encourage (people who are injured) to do as much and as many types of physical therapy as possible.”
Jacobson’s rehabilitation began at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing him to stay in his home and do much of the rehab work on his own. He said that in a strange way the pandemic might actually have aided his healing.
“It helped me just focus on my rehab and recovery,” he explained.
He is the first to acknowledge that he had help on the road back to the slopes.
“It takes a great team of people around you to recover from a traumatic injury,” he said.
He expressed gratitude for the surgeon and the team that performed his surgery, the trainers and physical therapists who worked with him along the way and his family and friends who helped him during the difficult times when he was barely able to move and later, when home bound by the coronavirus, he had to figure out how to remove the stitches from the back of his neck.
Day by day he improved with the help of, “a lot of positive people around me,” Jacobson says.
There was never any doubt that he was getting back on skis, and in December, during an outing with his brother at Northstar Resort, he returned to doing what he loved.
“I stayed away from any area with trees the first day,” he said. “Now I am feeling strong and confident I can ski the way I used to.”
Jacobson is not only back on the slopes, he is supporting an organization that is helping other injured outdoor athletes recover by promoting the nonprofit High Fives Foundation through social media and advocacy. He has a goal of raising $30,000 for HIGHFIVES and has already raised more than $16,000.
According to its website, High Fives focuses on preventing life-changing injuries and provides resources and help to keep persons active if they do happen. The nonprofit provides rehabilitation services, adaptive sports programs and an adaptive sports center to help injured athletes not only recover, but get back to doing what they love.
“They are a great organization,” said Jacobson. “They have helped hundreds of athletes.”
It’s also a strong advocate for something Jacobson has long understood and now is active proof of:
“Helmets are cool.”