Make It or Break It might be a lame TV show when it comes to explaining gymnastics to the general public.
But one theme is important. How does a dedicated athlete handle serious injury. Especially if they cannot return to the sport.
While the fictional Payson was falling on Shoot Half on Bars at National Championships, fracturing her back, a real life gymnast in Florida suffered a catastrophic injury on Bars.
… High School senior Dounia Bendris was practicing at Broadway Gymnastics in Oviedo when she slipped off the uneven bars, broke two ribs, collapsed a lung and severed her spinal cord.
Doctors told the 17-year-old that she was paralyzed from the waist down four days after Christmas. …
read more – Paralyzed Gymnast Adjusts To Life After Fall
video interview with Dounia
Donations can be mailed to CHASE care of Dounia Alyssa Bendris, 3924 Town Center Blvd. Suite 103-104, Orlando, FL. 32837. Donations can also be made via PayPal to DBendris@att.net or by clicking HERE.
5 comments ↓
EEK. It bothers me that the parents are potentially suing the gym. Freak things like this happen in many sports. It pains me to know that those gym owners could be out of business if the lawyer pulls a Johnny Cochrane.
They would have to prove some serious negligence there.. Accidents happen in any sport, and insurance is there for a reason.
It’s a tragedy, but it’s cold math in the eyes of the law. They have every right to sue, but the grounds should be on establishing a fund to ensure her livelihood that she may otherwise have lost – not that the gym failed to help her (though the circumstances are not totally clear atm).
It was, as sad as it is, a total fluke. Life, sadly, imitated art a little too well, in this case… gotta admit, though – that seems like an awful lot of trauma for just “slipping” off the bar..
Well, Kerri Strug had an awful lot of trauma for her “slip”. You just never know what is going to happen. I’ve heard of some very flukey stuff.
These are young girls! they are doing gymnastics for fun. they are not professionals. They may be focus one minute and somewhere else the next. Who is responsible for them?What systems are in place to prevent this? if a spotter was present could this fall have been prevented? Does USAG have any blame based on their guidelines if a spotter was not required? Children are unpredictable. There should be some serious guidelines in place to prevent children from getting hurt this way. Parents enroll their children in gymnastics to improve their health and physical abilities NOT to hurt them. But what happens after a career in gymnastics to these girls? Why are so many hurt in so many places? Many from injuries that could have been prevented with better conditioning, matting and spotters.
Why was Kerry Strug allowed to continue on based on that injury…so she got a medal….she could have landed wrong and the story could have ended tragically. I was embarrassed for Korouly. This philosophy is abusive of young girls. It has to be analyzed and reviewed. Maybe this case will open everyone’s eyes to the abusive practices that take place in world of competitive gymnastics.
We don’t know details of her accident, GR.
There may be no liability.
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