Kelley Goddu dove into a pool in late July. The 20-year-old Keene native, an environmental design major at Syracuse University, was a longtime competitive swimmer and lifeguard. She meant to skim the surface. She misjudged the depth and her head hit bottom. The impact broke her fifth cervical vertebra and damaged the third and fourth. Kelley was taken first to Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield, then to the level one trauma center at Springfield’s Baystate Medical Center. Family and friends gathered in the waiting room while surgeons stabilized her neck with a halo traction device. Her spinal cord was not severed, but she was paralyzed from the neck down. Three days later, neurosurgeon Gerald McGillicuddy repaired the three vertebrae in a ten-hour surgery at U-Mass Medical Center in Worcester. Kelley’s parents run Cabana Swimwear, a long-time supporter of New England Masters and they need financial help to deal with this situation. See the following links:

http://www.947thezone.com/Article.asp?id=320941&spid=
http://www.tri-4-kelley.com/kelley.html
http://timbermantri.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6644&sid=6527c6f4bf858028a2c980562f8bb436

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