Colorado mom of six paralyzed in "freak" snowboarding accident

A Castle Rock woman is paralyzed from the neck down and on life support after a snowboarding accident in Keystone last week.
According to loved ones, Sandra Prokofi is an avid snowboarder, owner of a hardwood business in her Colorado town and a mother of six young children.

"She's an unbelievable mom. She's literally a super mom. She does absolutely everything for her kids. They're so insanely active," said Robert, Sandra's younger brother.

 He says Sandra is the quintessential Colorado mom to her six children. 

"It's a whole army. She has five boys and a little girl," said Robert. "Her big thing was definitely snowboarding, but she was also a huge hiker, swimmer, runner, you name it."

Her passion for snowboarding has rubbed off on her kids.

"The kids are always out there, and they're incredible snowboarders, so they're just a big part of that community in Keystone and Summit County," said Robert.

And on Robert, who says Sandra moved to Colorado to snowboard and he followed her.

"We snowboard together pretty much two or three times a week," said Robert.

Robert says she owns a business in Castle Rock called Hardwood Floor Pro.

On Dec. 29, Sandra was snowboarding in Keystone with her three oldest boys when Robert got a panicked call from a friend with them saying Sandra had broken her neck.

"Terrifying, the worst thing ever. The doctor called me, the one at Keystone, and he actually broke down crying, and that's when I knew it was bad," said Robert.

According to the resort, Keystone Ski Patrol responded to Upper Frenchman Trail and transported Sandra to Keystone Medical Center, where she was life-flighted to St. Anthony Hospital. Summit County Sheriff's deputies confirmed they responded to the incident, met with ski patrol and visited the incident site.

"One of her kids witnessed the accident, and he's having a really hard time," said Robert. "She had a helmet and everything she could have had, and it seems she just caught an edge and fell face first. It wasn't involved with any other ski or snowboarder. It was just her, and it was just a freak accident the way that she landed."

Rushing to the hospital, Robert learned Sandra had a catastrophic spinal injury and was paralyzed from the neck down.

"Every day is a nightmare. Really still haven't accepted it. It's really hard," said Robert. "Every day is definitely a fight for her life still."
He has spent almost every night since by her side.

"We know that she hears us and she knows we're there. So I think it's just critical times to be with her and not leave her alone," said Robert.

Sandra is on a ventilator, and Robert doesn't know if she will ever be able to breathe without one. She has had multiple surgeries in the last week.

With the active mom's future uncertain, her loved ones hope prayers and rehabilitation could bring her back to her children.

"Really just hoping maybe the right person will see this and reach out about therapeutics or clinical trials, something that can actually help her," said Robert. "We definitely still believe in miracles. She's super resilient, and she's definitely a fighter. So I do think that if anybody can do it, it's her."

Sandra's family expects the cost of her medical bills and ongoing care to be extremely high. An online fundraiser has already raised nearly $80,000.