Ryan Winn - The Bucknellian

People of the Year

The Bucknellian recognizes two departing members of the University for their achievements and contributions to the campus community

David Van Wagener --Graduating Senior

BY JAMIE JACOBSON
News Editor

The last thing on David Van Wagener’s mind when he skied off a chairlift in Colorado nearly four years ago was that he would never walk again.

It was winter break of his first year at the University when Van Wagener ’06, a chemical engineer, headed home to Denver to join his brother and a friend in Breckenridge for a ski trip. It was during a fluke accident on that day in December of 2002 that he fell and suffered an injury that would change his life.

"I fell and broke my C4 and C5 vertebrae, so I had a spinal cord injury from that," Van Wagener said. "I was brought to a hospital in Denver where I was on a ventilator and in critical condition for three days." (Full Story)