As cyclist Nate Aikele approached the final turn at The Driveway Series race on April 10, he looked over his shoulder to gauge his first-place lead. It wasn't the first time he was slated to win, but some fear this might have been his last.
In an instant, Aikele veered off course, crashing into a tree. After extensive spinal reconstructive surgery, the doctor’s prognosis is a complete spinal cord tear resulting in paralysis from the middle of his chest down.
No one wants to hear that kind of news, especially an athletic 30-year-old who is seven weeks away from receiving his doctor of podiatric medicine. The returned missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints doesn’t know if he can graduate this May from Midwestern University, or if he can complete his podiatric medicine and surgery residency at North Colorado Medical Center.
But those aren't questions he's asking.