Sideline Stories: Clara Brown

At the age of 12, I fractured the C5 and C6, two vertebrae in my neck, in an accident at gymnastics practice. I also damaged my spinal cord, leaving me paralyzed from the neck down, though this did not completely sever the cord. I spent a few months as an inpatient and later as an outpatient, relearning how to eat, walk and do other basic functions. When I arrived at Shepherd, I was completely paralyzed from the neck down, though gradually gained back muscle function throughout the course of my time there. After the initial SCI I had several other compounding medical issues which left me in and out of a wheelchair for the next several years. I had a hip replacement at age 15 that I consider my turning point toward becoming the healthiest I have been since my accident! Four years ago, I bought a road bike and have been getting stronger ever since. I currently hike, backpack, ski and ride bikes.

I competed in my first international cycling race in August of 2018, in Baie Comeau, Quebec, as an independent athlete (unaffiliated with any country because I have not yet made the USA national team, though was invited by them to train).
In paracycling, there are varying levels of impairment and each athlete must be evaluated to be placed in a competition category. As a C athlete, I ride a normal bicycle with some modifications (all braking and shifting is on the left side.) Within C, there are 5 levels with 1 being most impaired and 5 most functioning. Within the C3 category during the competition I placed 4th in the time trial and 3rd in the World Cup road race in Quebec.

I was just selected as a discretionary athlete of the national training camp in Carson, CA. For now, I’m gearing up for track racing with Nationals on December 8-9, 2018, as my first competition of the track season. I’m hoping to be selected for the World Championships team and also make the national team in 2019. I’m also applying to live in the Olympic Training Camp, Colorado Springs, CO leading up to Tokyo in order to focus on training, free from other distractions. This summer I also competed in able-bodied races in the state of Washington to gain more general reading experience and have ridden among a diverse field of athletes.