… Jacoby was practicing her double back dismount off the high bar into the pit. She opened prematurely, stating she “got lost”, before her 2nd flip was complete and landed on her neck on an 8 inch mat. …
The extent of the spinal cord damage is still being determined.
Follow her recovery on a new dedicated blog – GET WELL JACOBY.
Her club has set up a recovery fund.
One of her coaches, Melanie Roach, has already donated 100% of the profits of a new book “Lift: Enjoying the Journey of Life”.
The gymnastics community is cheering for you, Jacoby.
17 comments ↓
I must first say that I hope Jacoby gets through this coming back to 100%. On the other side of the coin, I would like to say that Region 2 has some of the least educated coaches in the country. There are some very good coaches, but the majority are faking it. There is a reason why a 34 AA makes it to Regionals, and a 35 AA makes a qualifying score to Nationals. We must as a whole (USAG & NAWGJ) need to look into modifying the qualification process for Womens JO Nationals.
The college coaches all go to the bathroom and get a snack when the Region 2 team goes to bars at Nationals.
Could there be some funding put in place to educate these coaches so future injuries to not occur in this Region?
Hey Gretchen its jadyn plzz have alex text me when Jacoby is able to have visitors thxx
Hope all goes well! Injured kids really is the worst part of being a gymnastics coach!
I know her coach and he’s a great guy and I can’t imagine what he is feeling right now. Good vibes to all involved, hope it ends on the best note possible.
Very sad for this girl. Just bloody awful.
Hey Get Well,
You can be a very educated coach and your kids can get lost in the middle of a flip. I do believe Region 2 has some pretty awful gymnastics as a whole, but Washington carries the dang region and I learned more from my clinics in WA than I did at other clinics in other regions where I thought I might learn more due to the “big” names.
Her coach has been around a while, trained Kristina Baskett (please excuse the spelling) and countless more to college and taught me a lot in my few dealings with him. Can we as coaches always learn more? Sure. But chances are she had been doing this skill for a while and sh*t just happened. Unless you know her and her coaches personally, I think that’s kind of a crappy assumption to make.
Jacoby’s coach happens to be one of the top coaches in the region, if not the United States. He has done TOPs testing for years, trained national champion Kristina Baskett, and was an elite coach for 30+ years. There may be others in the region who aren’t as qualified, but he is DEFINITELY not one of them.
Hey Get Well,
First of all, that is completely disrespectful for you to say. Jacoby is a friend of mine and I competed with her for many years before she transferred to a different gym. She is hurt. Stop changing the subject. We are all trying to stand strong and support Jacoby and you are the only one bringing her support system down. I ended up having a fall on a skill on bars as well. I broke my neck and should be a quadriplegic right now myself. But that has nothing to do with my coach. It was a simple skill that I had been doing for countless years. And that does not mean I was taught wrong either. And neither did Jacoby. She was a strong gymnast and a great althlete all around and and even better friend. Her coach, although I have never had personal coaching experiences with them, it’s not their fault. I became a coach and did that for awhile after I quit competing. I know what the coach must be going through to an extent. So don’t get on their case about it. They are probably beating themselves up about it enough without you on their back or hanging over their head. Jacoby had an accident. Keep the positive spotlight on her. If you’re going to be negative, do it somewhere else. We are trying to bring this young gymnast up. And you are tearing us down. So either change your view point or just stop talking.
As for everyone else, thank you so much for all of your support. It is much appreciated. We are all here for her and we are hoping and praying for a miracle which we know is possible in the hands of God.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to this family. Being a parent of a Region 2 gymnast I know that people really do care for this girl. Accidents happen even to the best trained. You don’t see anyone blaming a professional coach for a professional athlete being hurt! I never heard about a football coach being said he’s horible that is why the star quarterback got hurt during the game. No we need to support our coaches, our parents, and our kids. This young woman and her family have an amazing faith and it is being tested right now. Let’s all pray for her, for their faith, and for their strength. God will heal her in time. I’ve seen a community come together and faith being tested. We all need to show our love, because the truth is, nobody can ever forsee an accident happening, no matter what your own personal thoughts are with the coaching here, it’s called an accident for a reason. My thoughts are prayers are with this family. May God heal her body, and keep her mind and strenghth up during this proces!
This is to whom ever left comment #1
You obviously have no idea what you are talking about. Furthermore, you have no idea who Jacoby’s coach is so your should have done some research before you started typing your ignorant comment. I am willing to bet that her coach is twice the coach you are. He has coached numerous elite gymnasts including first junior elite to ever compete a Yurchenko double full. His coaching resume is full of amazing accomplishments including having girls compete at world and Olympic trials as well as having two J.O. National. So, before you run your mouth do some research. I coached with him for a short while and he was very safety conscious and incredibly technically knowledgable. Jacoby was doing a skill that she competed for two years and she was going onto a mat in the pit. It could have happened to any coach in any part of the country. I hope nothing like this ever happens to you and people don’t start pointing the finger at YOU. Accidents like this have happened all over the country. You owe everyone who has visited this site an apology. As well as Region 2. I noticed you didn’t leave your name. I would love to contact you personally and educate you more on why your post is so wrong and inappropriate.
*i meant to say that he has coached two J.O. National champions!
(Sorry for the typos I’m VERY angry!)
As a club owner in Region 2 I have a few comments. First and foremost, let’s talk about uneducated… This is not the time nor the place to debate the talents of our coaches or athletes. We are focusing on the health and well being of a 15 year old child. This was a tragic accident and it could have (and has) happened in ANY Region. No one should be pointing fingers, we should all just be praying. And for you sir, while you may be able to produce better athletes than most, I wouldn’t hire you if you were the last coach on the planet. I stay clear of assholes!
I am sure this is obvious but just to clarify, my comments were directed at the first writer.
Personally, I don’t have a problem with people taking a good hard look at things. Ideally, it would be an ongoing thing with a goal of continuous improvement, but if an injury is what spurs it at least something good can come out of it.
For everybody who’s upset about Get Well’s comment, you have to admit, the type of finger pointing and shit flinging that goes on after something awful happens is what gets things put right or at least better.
Jacoby, because of you, I am not paralyzed. Since you got hurt (I’m am soooooo sorry about that) my gym had a safety lesson thing, so the same wouldn’t happen to us. Because of you and that lesson, when I fell on my head at practice I did not become paralyzed, only because I knew what to do and what not to do. I am a little injured, but not paralyzed. I was doing a cast handstand and I fell over the bar onto my head. I love you Jacoby thank you for saving me and I hope you feel better soon! I am telling you these things not because I want you to fell bad, but because I want you to know that you helped someone (more than one person I guarantee) with what happened to you.
LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I feel so bad for you feel better
jacoby hope that you can recover soon and that all days will you have faith and hope that you will live an eternal life if your walking again or not cause that doesn’t matter it’s the fact that you have gone through a rough time but each day your regaining that strength. So I just want to say god bless you and don’t let someone let you down because they make fun of you for being in a wheelchair tell them your story and tell them that god makes us all different and you were meant to be in a wheelchair because god made you that way and god made it for you to fall off those very bars that day because we are all different
Leave a Comment