“I had already dived off the block like four times, and it just went wrong that time,” Abby Buell, 15, recalled
Credit: gofundme
NEED TO KNOW
- Kansas teen Abby Buell, 15, was paralyzed after striking her head while diving during swim practice, crushing her C6 vertebrae
- After 58 days in the hospital, Buell has returned home and regained some mobility, and she hopes to rejoin everyday activities
- “Obviously, this is going to change my entire life, but really it just took my summer away,” the teen said in an interview
A Kansas teen who was paralyzed after a diving accident at swim practice says she isn’t letting the injury stop her from returning to the life she loves.
Abby Buell of Overland Park, 15, was spending her sixth summer swimming with her local swim team at Young’s Pool when she suffered a spinal cord injury during what she described as an otherwise routine practice, according to local news outlet Fox 4.
A spokesperson for the city of Overland Park, which operates and maintains Young’s Pool, confirmed that an injury occurred at the pool on June 6 in a statement to PEOPLE, adding that emergency services transported the individual to a local hospital.
“It was a normal practice,” Buell recalled of the day while speaking to Fox 4.
“We’d been doing diving practice, and I had already dived off the block like four times, and it just went wrong that time,” she added.
Credit: gofundme
The teen said she dove from the starting block and struck her head in the four-foot-deep water. She immediately realized she couldn’t move.
“After that, I was stuck,” Buell said. “I was paralyzed in the water. One of my friends from swim, she jumped right back in and flipped me over.”
The accident crushed her C6 vertebrae, and despite undergoing surgery, doctors told the family that she will likely never walk again, per the outlet.
Credit: gofundme
“It was really, really, really hard in the beginning,” Buell said.
She spent 58 days in the hospital recovering and working to regain as much mobility as possible. Since then, Buell has made progress. While she initially couldn’t move her hand, she can now use her phone, and she even returned to the pool.
“It’s getting better,” she said. “I’ve done back stroke all by myself.”
An athlete who participates in several sports, Buell also intends to return to the field with her marching band.
At home, however, she is still adjusting to an environment that wasn’t designed for a wheelchair.
“Currently, the paint is struggling because I keep hitting the walls,” the teen joked.
“Obviously, this is going to change my entire life, but really it just took my summer away,” she added.
Credit: gofundme
Her parents, Mary and Adam Buell, told Fox 4 they first learned something was seriously wrong when Abby’s best friend called after the accident.
“Her best friend called me and said, ‘Abby got hurt and she can’t move her legs,’ ” Mary recalled. “[It’s] just hard when your child is hurt like that.”
“Especially when you get a phone call that says Abby can’t feel anything,” Adam added.
Since Abby returned home, the family has begun working to make the house more accessible. Friends and relatives built a ramp leading to the front door, while Adam said one of his priorities is adapting the rest of the home to better accommodate his daughter.
“At this point in time, we can’t even get her into the bathroom to take a shower,” Mary said.
Despite the difficult transition, Abby’s parents say her determination has helped carry the family forward.
Credit: gofundme
“Abby is very goal oriented,” Mary told the outlet. She added that her daughter’s outlook changed the way she and Adam are processing what happened.
“She’s so positive,” Mary said. “It’s very easy to give up, to sit in the corner and cry and be sad about what’s not going to be. While Adam and I took time to mourn the loss of the child that never will be, now we get to celebrate what she’s become.”
Annie Taylor, a family friend, established a GoFundMe to help the family afford the many things they now need, something Taylor described as a “huge financial burden they never could have anticipated.”
“Coming home is very expensive,” Taylor wrote on the fundraising page. “Abby needed a van that can accommodate her [new motorized wheelchair] just to get her home, and while they did get the van, paying for the customized van is a different issue.”
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“They’ve had to buy a lift to assist with getting in and out of the chair. They had to build a ramp just to get her in the door and need to remodel a bathroom, interior doorways, and make other modifications to their house. This is all in addition to Mary having to give up her summer school job and Adam taking leave after the accident,” Taylor continued.
“Your support will go directly toward giving Abby the freedom and comfort she deserves as she navigates this new chapter,” she added.
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