Nikki Lewis married her husband on September 8, 2018, in Maui, Hawaii with their family and closest friends present. While honeymooning four days later, Nikki, her husband, and a few friends decided to go boogie boarding on Big Beach in Maui. After attempting to ride a wave in, she stood in the waist-deep water shaking to get the sand out of her swimsuit. She then grabbed her boogie board and began to turn around to go swim back out and was immediately struck by a wave, instantly paralyzing her from the neck down. As she lay face down in the water all she could do was try to stay calm to avoid drowning and pray that someone had noticed thankfully her husband, friends and a stranger on the beach were able to pull her out of the water, while stabilizing her neck. She was immediately transported to a hospital in Maui, where they learned that she had broken her neck and subsequently had severe spinal cord damage.
They immediately flew her to Honolulu where she underwent emergency surgery roughly 8 hours after the accident. Her husband was told that she may or may not come off of the ventilator and that she would likely be completely paralyzed from the neck down. She was fortunate that the surgery was successful enough to come off of the ventilator 5 days later, but the physical prognosis was still unknown. Slowly, she began by moving her pinky and toes. Then on September 19th, with the help of several therapists, they were able to sit her up on the side of the bed for the first time.
After spending 9 days in ICU, she began aggressive therapy with the focus being on flying home to the 3 children that she and her husband have. After aggressive therapy working on her upper body functioning, lower body functioning, and endurance, on October 3rd, she made the long, difficult flight home to continue recovery at Baylor Scott and White Institute for Rehabilitation. Once she got settled into inpatient therapy, she requested another MRI to see how things were healing under the skin. During that scan, they discovered all of the ligaments from C2 – C5 were shredded and another surgery would be needed. On October 19th, Nikki underwent another surgery – a posterior lumbar fusion, and more rods and screws were added.
The last 6 months have consisted of intense physical and occupational therapy, where Nikki has focused all of her efforts on regaining any possible mobility. Nikki has Central Cord Syndrome which has caused her to have profound motor weakness and nerve pain in her upper extremities.
While she is predominantly in her wheelchair while out in public, she is able to walk with a walker for short distances. Through a friend, she learned about ATF and immediately fell in love with the sense of community and the determination that each athlete demonstrates.
Her goals are to learn how to live again, be stronger, and gain confidence in who she is with her new normal.
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