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This remarkable woman is a world champion. On four occasions she has won the World Disabled Water-ski Championships. She has been champion and world record holder in all three individual disciplines as well as overall champion. In competition with sighted water-skiers, she is one of the top skiers in Ireland and in the higher echelons of competitive skiing in the UK.
And yet, in 2004, she nearly died. In the course of a training session in Tampa, Florida, Janet was skied at high speed into a steel ski jump in the centre of the lake.
‘Doctors assessing the extent of my injuries were united in their prognosis: I wouldn’t survive the night. Yet they continued to help me fight. The massive trauma to my face prevented me from breathing and an emergency tracheotomy had to be performed. I had been whipped into the ramp at the velocity required to rip a seat belt in two with the result that the bones in my face, including eye sockets, cheek bones, and nose were completely smashed. My jaw was dislocated and suffered multiple fractures plus I lost several teeth. My right hip and pelvis were dislocated and broken as was my left elbow. The head of my femur was crushed, my knee-cap fractured, ribs were also dislocated. I suffered crush injuries, snapped a tendon in my thumb and lost a serious amount of blood. My face was gone, my body a mangled mess and my heart failed on three occasions. But doctors resuscitated me, allowing me to cling tentatively to life. I will never know whether it was a dream or a moment of lucidity but I remember thinking, I am going to die here alone and I didn’t get to say good-bye to Paul and my family.’
But Janet Gray did not die. In fact, not only did she make a full recovery, she resumed her career in water-skiing and regained her world titles and previous ranking as World Disabled Water-ski Champion.
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