Brock University is mourning the loss of a graduate whose spirit and perseverance was an inspiration to the Niagara\u00a0community.<\/p>\n
Christi Rougoor, 29, passed away last week\u00a0due to complications related to her paralysis.<\/p>\n
Rougoor was well known around Brock, both as a student and alumna.<\/p>\n
She was a member of Brock\u2019s Power Cord Exercise Program when the popular wheelchair accessible exercise facility was little more than a piece of equipment in the basement of Welch Hall.<\/p>\n
Rougoor, who graduated from Brock with an honours Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Education and Master of Education, joined Power Cord after a motocross accident left her paralyzed from the waist down in 2008.<\/p>\n
The beloved E. L. Crossley Secondary School teacher and coach continued to participate in Power Cord after graduating.<\/p>\n
Associate Professor of Kinesiology and director of Power Cord David Ditor said Rougoor was an amazing person who was an inspiration to everyone who knew her.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe one word I would use to describe Christi is vibrant,\u201d he said. \u201cShe really did have an energy and vibrant personality. She lived life as large as anyone I\u2019ve ever known.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said Rougoor was a vocal ambassador for the Power Cord program and never missed an opportunity to help fundraise and raise awareness about its benefits.<\/p>\n
Her generosity of spirit extended into his classroom on multiple occasions when Rougoor shared her story with his fourth-year class focused on spinal cord injury.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe added so much to the education of students,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He recalled finding out Rougoor went bungee jumping in her wheelchair \u2013 when it was shown on Late Night with Jon Stewart. He wasn\u2019t surprised.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s just the type of person Christi was, she lived larger than life, was never limited and was always in the spotlight,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In a 2011 edition of Surgite, Brock\u2019s alumni magazine, Rougoor talked openly about the motocross accident that left her paralyzed from the chest down.<\/p>\n
Her strength and courage came through in the article, written in her own words as a way to inspire others to overcome life\u2019s challenges.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite all the obstacles attached to a newly injured paraplegic, I have been determined to achieve,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n
Three months after leaving intensive rehab at Chedoke Hospital, while continuing out-patient rehabilitation, Rougoor participated in the Rick Hanson Wheels in Motion event at Brock. Three months later, she was back in class.<\/p>\n
She was proud to win first prize in the Brock News summer vacation photo contest in which she showed off her first travels as a paraplegic.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was difficult and stressful at times; it is not easy for someone restricted to a chair to get around in a two-legged world,\u201d she wrote. \u201cBut, my travels took me from the beaches of California to the top of the Columbia Icefield in the Canadian Rockies. I never thought I\u2019d be able to do what I\u2019ve done, so far and so soon.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rougoor was a talented artist and she was training for her next challenge, the Niagara Falls International Marathon. Her funeral was held Saturday.<\/p>\n
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