Rosa Malloy-Post, seen here in the San Juans, was injured during a climbing accident at Bridger Jack Mesa in Utah on May 4, and was paralyzed from the waist down. The experienced climber and athlete is undergoing rehabilitation at Craig Hospital in Denver where she will likely stay for the next couple months./Courtesy photos

Rallying for Rosa

Community gets behind recovery of local climber
by Tracy Chamberlin

Some people just can’t be stopped, hindered or held back. Rosa Malloy-Post is one of those people.

“I’m not going to be slowing down just because I’m in a wheelchair,” she said.

As a wilderness guide for Outward Bound and Open Sky Wilderness Therapy, Malloy-Post, 23, is an accomplished hiker, mountain biker, skier and climber.

Along with fellow climber Greg Young, she was ascending Bridger Jack Mesa near Indian Creek Utah on May 4 when the rock she had a hold on broke.
Upcoming Benefits
- Rally for Rosa, Wed., June 5 at Velorution Cycles, 1077 Main Ave. Fifty percent of all profits go to the Rosa Malloy-Post Trust. For more, call 259-1975.

- Community yoga classes for the next two months to support Malloy-Post. Yoga Durango, Sundays, 8:30-9:30 a.m., all levels, 1140-A Main Ave.; Saturdays, 5-6 p.m., all levels, 1485 Florida Road. For more, visit www.yogadurango.com or call 403-1133.

It was poor quality, she said, and sloughed off in her hand.

The ropes held her, but she lost one of the anchors during the fall and hit her back on the rocks, fracturing her skull, cracking a couple of ribs and fracturing her C1 vertebrae. Young lowered her to the ground and, without cell reception, stabilized her before finding help.

Malloy-Post called Young strong, smart and a trusted climbing partner. “Without him, I don’t know if I would have been OK,” she said.

She was immediately taken to St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction for surgery where she learned she was paralyzed from the waist down. Later, Malloy-Post was moved to Craig Hospital in Denver where she’s been for almost three weeks and will likely stay for the next couple months as she rehabilitates.

Craig has been ranked one of the top spinal cord and brain injury rehab and research hospitals in the country for more than 20 years. Malloy-Post said it’s obvious the people love working there. Nurses, therapists, everyone at Craig has a great bedside manner and are good at what they do, she added.

And she would know.

‘Rosa, We Have Your Back!’ For updates or to donate to the Rosa Malloy-Post Trust, visit YouCaring.com and check out Malloy-Post’s page, “Rosa, We Have Your Back.” www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/rosa-we-have-your-back-/61198.

What Malloy-Post was working toward as a student at Fort Lewis College this year was nursing school. She still has her eyes on that goal and is registered for classes at the Fort this fall.

With everything that’s happened, though, she might put it on the back burner. She said her more immediate mission is just putting her pants on by herself.

She said she needs to learn how to drive her car and take care of herself again. She needs to learn how to live again. “None of these things feel like they’re out of my reach,” she added.

Malloy-Post talks of camping, skiing, maybe even one day climbing again; she’s even got her eye on an adaptive mountain bike. It’s just learning how to do these things in a different way.

Listening to Malloy-Post, she talks of doing all the things she used to do, just in a new way. Never once does she talk of tasks she can’t perform, or obstacles she can’t conquer.

Malloy-Post is no stranger to the process either, having volunteered with the Adaptive Sports Association at Durango Mountain Resort this past winter.

According to her best friend Lilly Goodman, she’s been eyeing the life of a para-athlete since her surgery ended and could see herself as a Paralympian.

For now, she’s just starting her rehabilitation and the focus is on maintaining blood pressure and rebuilding strength.

Goodman said she knows it’s a long process, and there will be physical and emotional challenges ahead, but there’s comfort in knowing Malloy-Post hasn’t changed. She’s still the loving, blunt and funny woman that Goodman’s known for the past few years.

The immediate challenge for Malloy-Post isn’t to tackle any of the obstacles that may lie ahead. It’s just asking for help.

Slowing down, not pushing too fast, knowing when she needs to turn to her family and friends, and then actually asking for that helping hand. Something that’s not natural to the independent woman, who might not have realized just how popular she was before the accident. But she does now.

“It’s been amazing how people are genuinely rooting for me,” she said. “I’m not used to this, but it feels really nice.”

The Brooklyn native now calls Durango home. And after the outpouring of support, she said she can’t imagine living anywhere else.
More than 200 people, and counting, have left messages of support and donations on the fund-raising website, “Rosa, We Have Your Back!” set up by Goodman. And several community businesses are putting together fund-raising events.

Paraplegia can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in the first year of care alone. Malloy-Post does have health insurance, but it’s uncertain how much would be covered.
Malloy-Post with her girlfriend Caroline Goodman, who was traveling in Central America at the time of Malloy-Post’s accident. She quickly returned to the states to join Rosa in Denver./Courtesy photo

Velorution Cycles is hosting a Rosa Benefit Day on Wed., June 5, with 50 percent of profits going to the trust set up to help Malloy-Post with medical expenses.

Yoga Durango, Backcountry Experience and Rock Lounge are also looking to host events to help out; and, Wags Between Barks owner and trainer Traci Moriarty is contributing to the effort by training Malloy-Post’s furry family member, Hank, to be a service dog.

“It’s a really important part of a community – to come together,” Goodman said.

And with friends like Hank, Goodman and the Durango community, Malloy-Post won’t be riding the road to recovery alone.