From tragedy to triumph: Sara Farnsworth inspires many after paralysis

When she was just 16, Sara Farnsworth was told by doctors that, more than likely, she’d never walk again and her mobility would be limited to that of an electric wheelchair.

That diagnosis lasted about a month.

During a youth group activity at Boulder Beach, Farnsworth and others were rappelling during a “well-organized, safe event.” She went down, head first, with no problem and loved it. But thanks to teenage adrenaline she wanted to do more.

“I climbed back up and started taking myself down with no gear or protection,” she said. “In fact, I don’t think anyone knew where I was. I got to a tricky spot and fell. I don’t remember the event but I was able to roll myself over and try to stand up but I couldn’t.”

Emergency crews arrived on the scene and she was taken out by helicopter. She estimates she fell approximately 20 feet.

“When they stabilized me and put me on a backboard, I kept asking, ‘Am I paralyzed?’ because I couldn’t feel my legs,” she said. “I could feel my wrist mostly because I had sprained it.”

The fall resulted in a broken neck. Her spinal cord was bruised and damaged but not severed. But she was still left paralyzed from the chest down. Unlike many who are deemed a quadriplegic, Farnsworth was able to breathe on her own and was able to shrug her shoulders but little more.

“I feel fortunate that everything that could have gone wrong, didn’t,” she said. “Over the years, in reading about spinal cord injuries, I realize how fortunate I was.”

After the successful surgery that included fusing her C5 and C7 vertebrae, doctors shared with her parents the grim news.

“They said ‘your daughter is a quadriplegic; she is paralyzed from the chest down and most likely she will live her life in an electric wheelchair. Our highest hopes for her, with therapy, is to get her to sit up in bed on her own,’” she said, noting that just a week prior to this interview she competed in a triathlon.

Farnsworth said her parents filtered everything they heard from the doctors to what they told her and others to help her from being too discouraged and giving up hope.

“They went about it with this unwavering faith that ‘you’re going to have a full recovery, Sara. You’re going to walk again and you will do all the things you once did and all the things you still want to do,’” she said. “Now, with a lot more life experience under my belt, I can see how impactful that was.”

After three days in the intensive care unit, Farnsworth spent another three months in in-patient care. There, she did rehabilitation as well as schoolwork.

Within the first month, she defied doctors as she bypassed an electric wheelchair and went straight for a manual one. By month two, she was taking steps. Having been an athlete for many years, that helped, as well as a strong mindset and support from friends and family, she said.

While she had motion in her shoulders, she had no hand dexterity, so she had to relearn to do tasks like eating, writing and tying her shoes.

“When you lose something and then regain it or relearn it, it feels like the first time and you have a greater appreciation for those milestones,” she said. “There’s definitely a mourning process. It’s like losing a loved one. You have to allow yourself to go through that process and mourn what you once had.”

Those milestones continued to come thanks to ongoing therapy and rehabilitation. In fact, there are things she can do now that she couldn’t a year or two after the accident.

“I could have stayed at various stages and just accepted that this was as good as it was going to get,” said Farnsworth, who was born here, raised in Henderson but moved back to Boulder City a year and a half ago. “Or, ‘they said or the doctors said that I wouldn’t be able to do something.’ I didn’t do that and kept trying. And, I was told that the most recovery I’d have would be in those first two years and not to expect anything more after that.

“It’s normal and natural to have the ‘why me’ or victim mentality or even jealousy of other people’s abilities. I have definitely had those moments. But it’s how you deal with those feelings — that is often what makes the difference.”

Now, jump ahead 22 years. Farnsworth is able to walk with the use of a cane with many often thinking she has Cerebral Palsy or Multiple Sclerosis. Not only that but she drives, was a teacher for many years, is an avid gym-goer and is the proud mom to four children ages 10 to 17.

She is now a certified life coach, has received certifications in neurolinguistic programming, hypnosis, and timeline therapy. She’d also like to become a motivational speaker to help encourages others and show them that they should never say never or feel something is impossible.

“This is a whole new chapter of my life,” she said with a proud grin, noting that that chapter would be entitled, “The Adversity Adventurist.” “I try new things all the time and still surprise myself daily. That’s never going to change.”

For more information on Farnsworth, visit her website at saralynncoaching.com.