A year ago, 17-year-old Natalie Buchoz was thrilled to be able to move her arms again.
Now her goal is to walk at her high school graduation.
The teen suffered partial paralysis after a skiing accident at Bear Mountain late December 2007, and she didn’t go home until Valentine’s Day 2008.
The accident left her with two fractured vertebrae, but her shattered spirit didn’t last long: She soon re- instated the “Nattitude” she was famous for, and became a rallying point for the community.
Natalie studies at home with two teachers, and is on track to graduate on time from Edison High School. Her grades have shot up since the accident, her mother Nancy says, and her dream is to walk during her commencement ceremony.
“Natalie has a really good attitude,” her mother said. “She’s become a counselor for her friends, who all come over to ask her advice. She has a really good group that surrounds her.”
“Before my accident, I wanted to be a physical therapist,” Natalie said. “Now I want to be a psychologist.”
Natalie said the family pets are some of her biggest cheerleaders; their dachshund and cats happily snuggle with her, and their antics make her laugh. One cat, Goober, had left the house to stay at a neighbor’s for a year, but inexplicably came back home after Natalie came home from the hospital.
One of the vital members of Natalie’s close-knit group is her boyfriend, Josh Amaral; the couple will celebrate two years together in April, and Nancy Buchoz considers him a member of the family.
“I would be paying a lot of money in psychotherapy bills if we didn’t have him,” Nancy Buchoz laughed.
Josh was there when Natalie had her skiing accident Dec. 29, 2007, and has stuck around for every step of her recovery.
Nancy Buchoz said the positivity and encouragement of her daughter’s friends and family have helped Natalie along in innumerable ways.
“It makes her think, ‘If they think I can, why can’t I?’” she said. “We’re never going to give up. Our goal is to have her walking within the year, with sticks or other apparatuses.”
Natalie constantly experiences new feelings in her body that she hasn’t felt since the accident, and inch by inch, she’s regaining control of her body. While she once celebrated moving a big toe, she now can raise both of her legs, and has taken steps with assistance.
