Following devastating injury, Jeff Andrews discovers next chapter via High Fives Foundation, Barracuda sponsorship

Jeff Andrews doesn’t really remember anything about the accident. He just knows that he was on his snowboard that day and decided to try a trick called a backflip 540.

But Andrews overshot the jump, continued to rotate and went crashing into the snow headfirst, suffering a C6 burst fracture, as well as three transverse fractures in the lumbar region of his back. He was airlifted to a hospital where he had emergency surgery to fuse his spine.

When Andrews, who was 25 years old at the time, woke up after the operation, he realized he was paralyzed from the neck down.

“It's definitely a very life-changing experience, waking up in the hospital bed, not being able to move anything, trying to figure out what you're going to do next,” he recalls.

Within days, though, Andrews had his answer.

Some of Andrews’ friends had reached out to Roy Tuscany, who started a non-profit called the High Fives Foundation after a skiing accident of his own left him a paraplegic, paralyzed from the belly button down. The charismatic Tuscany visited him in the hospital and after they talked, Andrews could see that there is life after a spinal cord injury.

“That helped a ton and just kept a positive attitude throughout everything and just didn't try to get hung up too much on something that I couldn't change and just focus on getting myself as independent and strong as possible,” Andrews says.

“It started a long-lasting relationship and friendship between myself and Jeff,” Tuscany says. “… And I've gotten to watch Jeff go from an individual that had a very active life to once again a very active life regardless of how he moves around now.

“It's been really cool to watch.”

When he was injured in a free-skiing accident in 2006, Tuscany didn’t have someone who reached out to him like he did to Andrews. In fact, he distinctly remembers the awkward exchange when his doctor made rounds the morning after his surgery.

“I had a very kind of stale doctor that was very much oriented on providing information and not really so much bedside manner,” Tuscany says, remembering the encounter. “My legs weren't working at the time, and the only motion that I knew to do is to put my hand up for a high five. And for what felt like five minutes, it was probably truthfully like five seconds, the doctor had no clue what to do.”

Three years later when Tuscany contemplated launching a non-profit, though, he remembered the exchange with his doctor. And he wanted to turn it into a positive by naming his foundation after it.

“It's almost impossible to give a high five and not be excited or stoked,” Tuscany explains.

The High Fives Foundation, which has helped more than 800 people with life-changing injuries heal, is one of the many charities that benefits from this week’s Barracuda Championship. Tahoe Mountain Club, which hosts the PGA TOUR event, is just eight minutes from High Fives’ CR Johnson Healing Center.

“We are really an organization that … provides the opportunity for those that have sustained these life-changing injuries to move forward and be able to have the opportunity to grow, recover and also reintroduce themselves to sports after sustaining an injury that really changes the identity of the individual,” Tuscany says.

Andrews is a perfect example. Ten years removed from his accident he is a member of the U.S. National Wheelchair Rugby Team, playing in tournaments all over the world. Had it not been for an impinged nerve in his right shoulder earlier this year, Andrews would likely be headed to Paris for the Paralympics next month. Instead, he’s one of four alternates on the team of 16.

“It’s very physical,” says Andrews, who also won the 2017 U.S. Adaptive Surfing Championship. “You're allowed chair-to-chair contact, so you can slam your chair into the other guy's chair, but it’s kind of like basketball, you can't reach in and smack his arm or something. So, it's a foul if my arm hits his arm.

“But as far as chair contact goes, it's full contact.”

Andrews is completely paralyzed from the middle of his chest down, although he has some arm function and about 25-percent use of his triceps. He works out religiously at in the gym at High Fives to maintain his strength and finds the Hydrotherapy Room, which is sponsored by the Barracuda Championship, to be huge asset in his continuing recovery.

The Hydrotherapy Room consists of a plunge pool, as well as a sauna that uses infrared waves to improve healing and stimulate circulation and detoxification. Andrews and Tuscany have a friendly competition to see who can spend the most time in the icy plunge pool although a recent 22-minute stay by Tuscany has set the bar high.

“It's just an awesome recovery technique because I'm working out usually five to six days a week between pushing and lifting weights,” says Andrews, who estimates he uses the facility two to three times a week. “It's just awesome. I'll get done pushing – I don't sweat, so my body likes to overheat – and so when I get done with a really hard workout, it's nice to be able to go in and hop in the cold plunge for usually six to eight minutes. Then I’ll wheel back into the sauna and warm back up for 30-40 minutes.

“It just really helps with inflammation and help my body get back to as healthy as possible for the next day so I can get another good workout in.”

Tuscany says the 10,000-square foot Healing Center has a “little bit of a hippie feel” to it. Among the services provided are massage, acupuncture, mental health therapy and personal training. There’s an AlterG Anti-Gravity treadmill, as well. Andrews says the comprehensive program “gives you the feeling of being a professional athlete.”

Throughout the facility are several murals created by Skye Walker, an artist based in southern California. His most recent is for the Hydrotherapy Room and incorporates the desert contrasting with a lush forest and a golf green. The centerpiece is a bear – representing Jack Nicklaus, who designed the Old Greenwood course that hosts the Barracuda Championship – bringing a golf ball to the cup.

“So, the Golden Bear symbolizes Jack, the golf ball symbolizes a goal, and the flagstick symbolizes where you can try to achieve your goal,” Tuscany says. “What are you seeking and where are you seeing it play out?”

Interestingly, both Tuscany and Andrews were golfers in their youth. Tuscany’s mother introduced him to the game while for Andrews it was his father’s influence. While both men came to the Truckee area to ski, Andrews also worked as an assistant golf course superintendent in the summers and was taking on-line turf management courses at Penn State when he was injured.

Andrews, who once had a single-digit handicap, says he’s a big Scottie Scheffler fan and picked Xander Schauffele first in his fantasy golf draft. He watches golf on TV every weekend and is looking forward to seeing the competition up-close-and-personal this week.

“There are two things that have been huge in my life,” Andrews says. “Golf has just really been amazing to me. When I got hurt, Lahontan Golf Club, a lot of the members really stepped up and helped me financially get through that situation. So golf has been a huge part of my life.

“And then the High Fives Foundation after I got hurt has really taken over and helped me get to where I am today. And so just seeing the two kind of come together has been really cool and really looking forward to where this partnership goes.”