JFIFC    $ &%# #"(-90(*6+"#2D26;=@@@&0FKE>J9?@=C  =)#)==================================================" }!1AQa"q2#BR$3br %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz w!1AQaq"2B #3Rbr $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ?]KC:gtb4V  Οj'.:X[bJ 'F61q)=[߱L:Ek+qlia(?آ6Ҋ,,kMF- \+ĐH#te9ZMa2b@9]uEՒ=p;#CRZͲʖ>f\4ڭ$`L jA$P늭xxFDvAs@<ES"ϻ-d&6$E&1ngKhi,h71=uKm  IaW#9iS=L<V$ֈӌ:fsDg+ѩ*VGn֮Pdpip>! HȨjrR3X^({]9 L~`Wp5 >s%YHQLf۱EIyiWj|D￶Q*s:L"fl=ʯo#y!-Г4$?NG>q wJˈI2Kv\xp$Ck6L?J;#b;4L= aT½7:RI4n-INk6XDw37l}+6p00ҋQ4Oi%?HIok'fJ`'PVFd8Oj2 d 6є;@ [$}qޞ-BDZu}+}#HHz#@*i5ub`b~]Rap^$E֡3BTPF+؊Wpzg+:P@_F?Kxb/N<%pp5.jpZ=s~,c$p6۳WTWamU7S>T,,z )V 62OB=ڻ0IrA q]/c#%$?.fGs~J9(Pa8.{UL`p1*x`LE Eg׫<.$mO 1=N+3 f&6;R _2ĉWzRlaB\an?NVm`*7Uec;2;;s.0ȯV ! )LG.Wh8_ƊVb# y ~Bb$^ĖOa+4,2k&_ln%zs~d \eOF\Lm`V$ (;i~$sIk>U;Jis!YOn>}+*p%2sC uzX=k-9JH95АOZK>R>mDqwXӃzSYpgVq׊vL0}뙖rIyz؏aQre6fc$wWṃޙoJ3kDD#\q:۱A=s]e<Ȥ&^RsHw{x4++Cҡ pzf7֋Usq哈֣vʜu?!4ZiƘ@9b2d3+]߆fRkq1Fg{ WF[ı85`zE-0@9TR:Qs4O'RRRFDyэ:r+ɂO\»ۥyOI-{M׎k8*ֳg,`ddwK-9߷ 5X=@63b(B.Nٖ7@GҮ+up!Q'< .񮨻5]&f¦O̰֨[1ڣirSLi[:S4ThxJ=yZ:7,tc%ֱ|@Enj3"UuXaGP3W"v})) In#8'%3s8VPa>~:{M'm;X;?8Սד5g$lAZ?$?kFc'Ҩi0D(yYdvҜn[3PceD lHU+@kا IXkh$rnoS ynvP>W=r}>t,Eպ\- @@fMH&hVpv]gYJJ,Iך/Qi3a]zMl G?^4[~XR 3֣er?:ouQߠ?oKF5Ny@Lr( Zj)X.R[^Gܾm&wo1ҼS_`C>ZxL+<VI@.WzeLQKU-[D=մF@ # [)ZH݈; fw9Z]v43#'Ү>[qvCgY|G$Ax/aҭl9n_04UG5* 2FVi:$㊇rT}A}"+EGxjB9 CLg`s= a4=GE/&qͩڼZ]rf^H'xvMvxPÝxvM;W9M"_ j{ Lx].%%yF}Ei>۸ZtڭˑX^$&LG}Hvzկ:#+OC\___B8=*ƬA[-B;q-=s]v-e5xz#L{GOJK3IX hMw" osϰ@$j,}j͌|Ұ7aH~WkBMB[hw'}=;WɦG8c\wdU cg&[~Εxݹqz6rknur PS2/9ǩ" zӂ8M.Aw aSE.($nljO ORjYc mcqEESD mF&b1!E!ށ6r1QRޣ]-$9rԯNӭSB.HXzBQB @8?JtaaA8\EH zS3Rm42-gӚE-EQEweek after doctors affixed a temporary rod-and-screw assembly to Christi s spine, she was moved to Our Lady of Lourdes Rehabilitation Hospital. Her gymnastics coach Joanne Thaw was at her bedside.<br> I knew if anyone was going to make it back from this, it would be Christi, says Joanne.  I don t train kids for the Olympics here. I train them for strength, for conditioning, for flexibility to compete. For Christi, I think some of those benefits she got here--the upper body strength, her competitiveness and her ability to focus--helped her to recover. <br>Her early rehab was stoked with an athlete s desire to push herself and was aided by her excellent physical conditioning and strength.<br> The rehab wasn t that much different from gymnastics, says Christi.  It s a win-or-lose situation. If you don t get first place in a gymnastics meet, you come back and you work harder. Every day in rehab, when I couldn t walk and then when I barely could, I reminded myself that I had to work a little harder. If I hadn t had that attitude, things might have turned out differently. <br>Christi broke her back in June, losing all feeling and function from the waist down. By July she was walking with braces and a walker.  I d regained some feeling, she says.  But I couldn t feel the difference between sharp and dull. My legs tingled and sometimes it felt like they d fallen asleep. It was strange to look at your legs and not feel them. <br>Progress was quick. In August she went back to school and reduced her rehab to only three times a week. In November she switched to a sports rehab center in Wichita, about 30 minutes from Hesston. There she began using more weights and was soon able to walk on her own.<br>She returned to school in September for seventh grade, but at first Christi couldn t do any sports. During the spring she went out for track and shot put, and ran the 100-meter for her last meet. She was slow, it was awkward, but she did it.<br>That was the picture when BFS first caught up with Christi five years ago. She was a determined girl fighting the odds, but no one knew if she would make it. Catching up with her now, just beginning her senior year, we re proud to see her spirit still pushing her on the athletic field and to learn she is not only fully recovered from the accident, but stronger for the effort.<br><br>Better Than Ever<br><br>In the summer, only a year after her accid