Kelly Brush skied competitively for the Middlebury College Alpine Ski team in Vermont. She was a sophomore in 2006, when she caught an edge on an icy patch during a race, flew off the trail and struck a lift tower. 

She severely damaged her spinal cord at the T 7-8 level, collapsed a lung, and fractured four ribs and a vertebra in her neck. Six months later, Brush returned to Middlebury and learned to use a monoski.  

She also founded the Kelly Brush Foundation to inspire and empower people with spinal cord injuries to lead active lives. In 20 years, her foundation has supplied over $6 million in adaptive equipment grants. 

The Foundation’s Active Fund provides grants for individuals with paralysis caused by spinal cord injury to purchase adaptive sports equipment. Whitefish resident Domonic Corradin and Jack Racicot from Whitehall recently received Active Fund grants that allowed Corradin to buy a monoski and Racicot to buy a trigger system for his hunting rifle. 

“Recovering from a spinal cord injury is hard and requires a lot of prescriptive work under medical supervision,” said Brush. “Adaptive sports help survivors break free from the monotony of medical care and physical therapy offices while finding joy — and healthy living — in activity by engaging with the world, moving their bodies, and spending time with family and friends. I’m so excited to see how this new equipment helps [Domonic and Jack] live a fulfilled, active life.” 

Corradin visited Whitefish Mountain Resort years ago on a ski trip as an assistant with the Wounded Warrior program. About a year and a half ago, he moved to Whitefish to work on a horse ranch. 

Throughout the last 30 years, he’s worked as an instructor with several organizations, including the Kelly Brush Foundation and demoed a variety of gear, so when he learned he was awarded the Active Fund grant, he had already determined exactly what piece of gear he’d like to own — a Tessier Scarver monoski. 

“The expense is just overwhelming,” Corradin said, referring to the cost of adaptive gear. “So, I really need to make sure I know exactly what I want. 

“I'm going to be close to $10 grand, just in ski equipment, between my mono ski, the board,” he said. “That's not clothing, that's not lift tickets, that's just equipment, just to put a board under my butt.” 

Without the $4,000 grant from the Kelly Brush Foundation, Corradin said buying the monoski would not have been possible. He received the grant in spring 2025 and contacted Tessier immediately. The ski was custom-built and delivered in time for the 2025-26 ski season. 

"This just couldn't have been more amazing," he said. "I reached out to [DREAM Adaptive Recreation] and said, ‘Hey guys, I got this new ski. Can you help me get fitted? It's been 12 years since I've been on the hill. Want to get refreshed.” 

ORIGINALLY FROM Michigan, Corradin was driving home from a winter soccer practice just three weeks after his 16th birthday, when he lost control of his vehicle on a snowy, icy road. The car catapulted into a tree. The accident crushed two of his vertebrae and severed his spinal cord. 

Two weeks later, in his hospital bed, he wondered what he had done wrong. Why did this happen to him? Why was he being punished? 

His father sat on the edge of his bed, in what is one of Corradin’s most vivid memories, and said, “Dom, you're dealt the cards you're dealt. You just got to play them the best you can.” 

He said those words acted as a light switch for his outlook.  

"Well, screw why. Why is not fixing my back. Why is not turning back time. It's not doing any good,” Corradin recalled thinking. “Let's see what kind of fun we can have with this.” 

The second most important factor in his recovery was sports and their inherent camaraderie. 

“I was super fortunate because my recreational therapist was very inquisitive in to my life and my personality and found out that I was an athlete all my life,” he said. 

Though the doctor suggested he not do anything for a year, his therapist was determined to get Corradin back into sports and took him to basketball practices and tennis tournaments. 

He said although he wasn’t able to participate at the time, trips to the sporting events showed him that adaptive sports existed, which made him realize his life was not over. His goal of getting back into sports was renewed. 

Now 47, his involvement in sports has taken him around the world. He credits his stubborn nature with his ability to seek out and meet challenges. 

"I've done almost every sport there is for adaptive sports. I've been competitive in wheelchair racing, doing road racing, basketball, competitive tennis, hand cycling. Those were my main sports,” he said. “I've done skydiving, scuba diving, rock climbing. I've been an instructor for wheelchair rugby.” 

Corradin also completed a 3,700-mile hand cycle trek across China. When he moved to Montana, he began incorporating more trail riding and down hilling. He said living in Whitefish and seeing Big Mountain every day made him want to ski again. 

As a high-level paraplegic, Corradin has no use of his core muscles or lower back, and said balancing is very difficult. His athletic nature is driven by one key personality trait. 

“I used to say that my stubbornness knows no limits. Then I realized that that didn't even really convey the gravity of it,” he said. “It's just sheer obstinance. I am just a brick wall.” 

    Domonic Corradin's Scarver monoski he purchased with help from the Active Fund grant from the Kelly Brush Foundation. (Photo provided)