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- Courtney King-Dye in her room at Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation
- © 2010 by Nancy Jaffer
West Orange, N.J., June 25, 2010 -- Since the dreadful day last winter when she suffered a near-fatal fall, Olympic dressage rider Courtney King-Dye has made enormous strides in recovery.
The training accident on March 3 that left her in a weeks-long coma changed her life, but it didn't change her characteristic determination, and most importantly, it didn't change her nature.
"I'm still the same person," she insisted, as we chatted in her room at the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation, her home for the last three months. The walls here are covered with cards and notes of encouragement, a constant source of inspiration, as is the picture of herself on her 2008 Olympic mount, Mythilus, that hangs above her bed.
The Courtney who has been living here may be spending time in a wheelchair and working to regain total fluency in her speech, but there is no mistaking her dedication and work ethic. They are the qualities that brought her to the top of her game when she was riding.
In her first interview since the accident, I asked her if she felt like a different person with all she had been through. She quickly assured me that the essential Courtney remains the essential Courtney.
"Maybe I have a different perspective, but.....I have the same sense of humor, same memories and everything," she said forcefully.
Her devoted husband, Jason, observed, "What's amazed me is the positive attitude that she's had. There hasn't been a negative moment or a negative thought."
Courtney is healing. There's a sparkle in her eyes, and when she flashed a smile, I saw the same woman whose photo I had taken so many times as she beamed with delight during awards ceremonies.
She proudly told me she finally had finished reading the hundreds of emails she received, even though working left-handed on the computer isn't easy.
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- Courtney with her husband, Jason Dye, at a 2008 Olympic send-off party
- © 2008 by Nancy Jaffer
Now she's ready for another step. Today, she and Jason, who has been with her every night, are moving into a residential hotel (he has to be glad he won't be sleeping on the pullout chair bed anymore!) She is going to return to Kessler as an out-patient, but will be able to go home or travel on weekends. The Dyes are headed to the Adirondacks, where they were married, and next month they fly to Michigan, where they will attend bachelor and bachelorette parties in preparation for the marriage of Courtney's brother.
The ambitious schedule demonstrates that nothing can keep Courtney down. But her plans go much further than weekend jaunts. She wants to ride again internationally, even though her doctors have told her that if her head is injured in another fall, it will be five times as hard to make a comeback. Courtney, true to form, is not deterred.
"My love is riding and training the horses," she said simply. "When I am ready to ride, then I will help my students ride." With the positive attitude that has brought her so far, Courtney does not doubt that someday she is going to be doing what she used to do.
Will it happen? She believes it implicitly, but at this point there is no way of knowing that, nor how much longer she must undergo intensive therapy. It covers everything from her speech, to walking and cooking, otherwise known as occupational therapy, important in her efforts to regain full use of her right side.
Fellow rider Lauren Sammis visited her twice over the course of three weeks, and was astounded at her "amazing progress" over that time.
"She's made such huge strides," agreed her mentor, Lendon Gray, who was by her side constantly after the accident and still makes a point of visiting once a week.
Not very far down the road, it is certain that Courtney will be back with horses, though they won't yet be her horses. She plans on doing hippotherapy that she expects will reawaken her muscle memory from the days when she emerged as one of the country's most recognized and admired athletes in her sport.
That athleticism, her fitness and the discipline stemming from years of training have boosted her from the devastation of a skull fracture and brain trauma to being a functioning human being on the way to recovery.
