Jimmy Chan, from Newcastle, New South Wales, has gained millions of followers on TikTok for his upbeat attitude while documenting his recovery and life in a wheelchair. He broke his back on August 9, 2021, at Perisher Ski Resort after executing a wrong jump at high speed, landing on his head and crushing his spine. The self-confessed adrenaline junkie started learning to ski again in June with instructor Tom Hodgiflora, a disabled winter sports and Paralympic coach. A 22-year-old medical student left paralyzed for life after a horrific skiing accident in August 2021 is back on the slopes just one year later Jimmy Jan, from Newcastle, New South Wales, has gained millions of followers on TikTok for his upbeat attitude while documenting his recovery and life in a wheelchair “So excited to be back on the snow again after last year’s setback…” he wrote in a post posted at the time. “This Jimmy will try to be safer, no promises though.” And after two months of practice, Jimmy commemorated the day of his accident by hitting the slopes on his skis (adaptive ski equipment for those who can’t ski standing up). “The big 12 month anniversary of the skiing accident that left me with a spinal cord injury. So excited to spend the day back in the snow with some of the best,” he wrote. And after two months of training, Jimmy commemorated his accident – August 9 – by hitting the slopes on his skis (adaptive ski equipment for those who can’t ski standing up) “It’s okay to fall down, but make sure you don’t stay down too long,” he said in the video. “This time last year I was waking up in the ICU after major fat surgery and today I’m so glad I’m not waking up in a hospital and driving back up the mountain for another day. “It’s okay to fall down, but make sure you don’t stay down too long.” Jimmy has won praise from millions for his upbeat and cheeky TikTok videos since the accident saw him break his back during a quick morning ski run. Jimmy had moved to Perisher for a snow season after Covid-19 led him to study online for the semester. That morning during a ski before an afternoon lesson Jimmy landed on his head and broke his back on the fatal jump. Jimmy is determined to continue the active lifestyle he had before the accident (pictured) “This time last year I was waking up in the ICU after a big fat operation and today I’m so glad I’m not waking up in a hospital and driving back up the mountain for another day,” he said. “I landed the first jump, easy, and I was approaching the second jump which is a lot longer and I had some significant speed,” Jimmy said in a video. “I hit the second jump, I get to the top and I didn’t have my weight where it needed to be. So I did the worst backflip in the world and not on purpose. “I caught a few meters of air and I remember thinking ‘oh cr*p, this is going to hurt’, and that’s the last thing I remember because a few seconds later I landed straight on my head and passed out.” He was then rushed to the medical center where he began to experience chest pain and difficulty breathing. But the young medical student is keeping a positive attitude despite the situation and shared the details in a series of TikTok videos They then cut off his snow gear to x-ray his entire body. But he was more worried about the doctors cutting up his expensive ski clothes and how he smelled than the damage he had done to his body. “You’re probably wondering what was going through my mind at that point and my first thought was, ‘Oh no, they just cut my favorite jump to pieces.’ “My second thought was, ‘Oh no, this is the fourth day in a row that I’ve worn these thermals without washing them, I’m sure I smell right now.’ Jimmy woke up in the snow surrounded by witnesses and ski patrols who asked him if he was okay and if he could wiggle his toes, which he couldn’t. “That’s when I knew things probably weren’t going well,” he said. “I caught a few feet of air and I remember thinking ‘oh crap, this is going to hurt’ and that’s the last thing I remember because a few seconds later I landed straight on my head and passed out,” he said. Doctors told Jimmy during surgery that they decompressed his spinal cord and fixed the fractures with screws and rods (right) X-rays revealed that Jimmy had fractured his spine and he was airlifted to the nearest hospital for emergency surgery. Before leaving, he asked the medics if they could collect his laptop, headphones, phone charger, toothbrush and other essentials from his van parked on top of the snow, which they did. Immediately after arriving at the hospital, doctors performed spinal surgery and Jimmy woke up pain-free in the ICU. Doctors told Jimmy during the operation that they decompressed his spinal cord and fixed the fractures with screws and rods. Reflecting on the day of the incident, Jimmy didn’t cry or scream, but simply took a selfie with the caption ‘opsie’ and saved it to his phone He shares regular updates on his TikTok account, where he has more than 600,000 followers and 10 million views, where he is regularly praised for his attitude Jimmy claims he was told the chance of him ever getting any feeling back below his hips as his injury level is around two percent. He shares regular updates on his TikTok account, where he has more than 600,000 followers and 10 million views, where he is regularly praised for his attitude. “You are single handedly the most inspiring person I have ever seen on this app. You are like the sun in human form,” one person wrote. “I like this attitude because too often we get angry at ourselves and beat ourselves up. This is a much healthier attitude,” added another. A third said: “Your spirit is contagious.”
