A Kalispell woman left paralyzed in a 2009 hit-and-run accident was injured in another vehicle accident Monday while in Denver to begin a rehabilitation program and promote the opening of a new paralysis recovery center.

Starla Barnes, her husband, Shannon, and their young daughter Elissiah were stopped on a Denver street when they were rear-ended by another vehicle going 70 mph, according to a Facebook post from Starla afterward.

Elissiah was not injured, but both Starla and Shannon were hospitalized at Denver Health Medical Center. Shannon suffered a small brain bleed and was discharged Wednesday with stitches on the back of his head. He has an eye patch and has to walk with a cane during his recovery, he posted on Facebook.

Starla remains hospitalized with an apparent setback in her paralysis.

“She still cannot feel or move anything, but she has faith the Lord will pull us through,” Shannon said.

Starla is undergoing tests to determine what caused her to lose movement and feeling. She posted on Facebook that she could no longer feel or move her legs.

“It looks like I did something to my lower back which may have caused loss of movement and feeling,” she said. “Severe pain, but we are alive and that is what matters.”

The couple has been actively involved in mentoring other paraplegics and last year founded an adaptive sports program and foundation called Moving Forward that is providing opportunities for differently abled athletes.

They had traveled by car to Denver — an 18-hour trip through a snowstorm — and Starla was to start a progressive therapy program there, an opportunity for which she had waited six years. She also had been chosen as an ambassador for Project Walk Denver, a paralysis recovery center that celebrates its grand opening on Saturday.

Starla was riding her sport bike through a downtown Kalispell intersection on June 23, 2009, when a white Chevy Silverado ran a red light, struck her and then sped away without stopping to see how badly injured Starla was.

The hit-and-run driver never was found.

She was thrown about 20 feet from her bike. Several of her vertebrae were broken, along with her collarbone, left shoulder blade and all of her ribs. Both lungs were punctured and the force of the helmet crushed part of her face, causing extensive damage that would be remedied by a metal plate placed between her eye and nose. Her internal injuries were extensive.

The accident left her paralyzed from the waist down.

Since her accident she has worked to regain her independence. She got married, gave birth to her daughter and has become an advocate for overcoming adversity.

Last year she was named Ms. Wheelchair Montana.

Despite the severity of her injuries and her paralysis, she has displayed an extraordinary spirit of survival from the get-go.

The couple has been raising money for special braces and the out-of-state rehabilitation they hoped would allow her to walk again.

Because she had experienced some feeling in her hips and legs and the damage to her spinal cord was considered incomplete, she has a 50-50 chance of one day walking again.

The couple is asking people to pray for them as they recover. Starla is in Room 756 at Denver Health Medical Center, 777 Bannock St., Denver, CO 80204.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.