Ken White III (Kenny) wakes up every morning thankful for his hard-earned recovery from a freak accident that at first left him a quadriplegic.
But come next September, if all goes well, his will for the third time put on his running shoes for the third annual Break Your Neck 5K race: Sept. 12, 2026.
White is even gearing up for a possible 10K run.
White credits his accident with saving his life - not almost ending it.
As he explains, at age 38 he had been an alcoholic for over half his life.
He was also a husband and father with a great job and wonderful parents.
Yet, on the inside, he says his life was a disaster zone.
On that fateful night, Nov. 15, 2023, he was playing with his young daughters and as a goof decided to try a somersault off an ottoman.
Instead, as he came down, he hit his head so hard that his C6 vertebrae exploded – and he did not even realize his legs were on the floor rather than up in the air as he believed.
Much has been written (here and here) about White's first year after the accident – from his 15-minute life flight from Pueblo to UC Health Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs where Dr. Rahul Singh whisked him into the operating room for an 11-hour procedure that literally saved his life to his slow but steady recovery thanks to being accepted into "one of the best spinal rehabilitation facilities in America" - Craig Rehabilitation Hospital in the Denver suburb of Englewood.
By the end of February 2024, White was taking his first, slow steps, and by the end of April he had decided to start jogging.
"So we started this crazy journey. One day," says White, "I ran around the outpatient apartment complex and my four-year-old daughter beat me."
Yet his physical recovery paled in White's own eyes compared to his realization that alcohol had been wrecking his life – and how the miracle of his surviving his own folly was inspiring him to give back to the community – and the doctors – who both saved his life and offered him help as he determined to make a difference in the future.
And then he got this hare-brained idea to sponsor – and "run" in – a five-kilometer race at a time when I was still in a wheelchair most of the day.
"I had decided I had been helped so much that I should pay it forward. I was really fragile, yet I determined to train to be able to finish the race myself – though I knew I would finish long after everyone else," said White.
White spoke with Todd Kelly, President and CEO of the Colorado State University Pueblo Foundation and he immediately offered the CSU Pueblo Thunderbowl, the university's football and track facility, for the race.
The local TV station got wind of the story and wrote an article about White’s injury and his plans for the 5K race.
There was no backing out after that.
On the day of the race, 300 people showed up, and White set a personal goal of 45 minutes for the 5K run – 15 minutes per mile on a track that included two inclines.
At approximately mile two, White says, he began to feel really tired, but one of his friends ran with him to the finish line.
"I had my Hallmark Moment," says White, as we crossed the finish line with student athletes and about 40 onlookers cheering him on.
"It was so amazing," he smiles – not just because he finished the race, but because he had raised $25,000 for the Dr. Singh nursing scholarship named after the man who had saved his life on the operating table.
To White, CSU Pueblo – in his hometown – is an incredible part of the city, the lifeblood of the community, and his alma mater.
As a youngster, White went to camps for piano, guitar, and basketball there.
That the university would cosponsor his charity run made White even more determined to thank the past and future nurses and doctors trained at CSU Pueblo for helping to bring him back from the edge of darkness.
Last September, White hosted the second annual Break Your Neck 5K and completed his own run in just 38 minutes.
The overflow crowd of about 500 cheered him on, and the race brought in another $30,000 for the Break Your Neck 5K mission.
One of those cheering him on was his sister Kristyn White Davis, who is vice president of Enrollment Management, Marketing, & Extended Studies at CSU Pueblo.
Holding the race for a second year – with year three already on the calendar – is also a testimony to White that his broken neck and spinal cord injuries also led to preventing his young daughters from the throes of an alcoholic father during their formative years.
"My hands," he says, "were the price of admission to being a great dad and saving my marriage."
White is not just running for glory. He recently completed 85 miles of a planned 100-mile bike ride but opted against the final leg up a mountain road.
He began taking his daughter to school, which became more important after his athlete wife tore her Achilles.
Looking back, White says his train wreck was unstoppable – until he broke his neck and lived. Overcoming paralysis was not as hard as showing each other grace, taking time with God to make an intentional plan to build a positive future.
When White does begin to falter, his 3-year-old says, "play with me," and all his pain – and grousing – melts away.
Duggan Flanakin is a senior policy analyst at the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow who writes on a wide variety of public policy issues. Read more Duggan Flanakin Insider articles — Click Here Now.
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