Mom sues after Spartan Race fall left her paralyzed
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A group of people help each other tackle a high wooden barrier on their gruelling 12 mile assault course during the âTough Mudderâ challenge in Cirencester park, Gloucestershire. This annual event is a team-based 10-12 mile obstacle course designed to test physical strength endurance. (iStock)
A New Jersey mom of four — paralyzed from the neck down while competing last year in the grueling Spartan Race in CitiField — is suing the organizers of the extreme obstacle course, as well as sponsors Reebok and NBC Sports.
Amparo Colon, 40, filed suit in Brooklyn federal court Tuesday over the life-altering spill she took at the three-mile competition in the Mets home stadium on May 9, 2015.
In the suit, Colon says she was about to bypass one of the obstacles — a set of monkey bars seven or eight feet high — and opted to instead complete the required 30 burpee exercises.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}But a Spartan Race volunteer “encouraged and demanded” she cross the bars by riding his shoulders, the suit says.
The volunteer lost his balance and took a tumble – taking the pretty brunette with him, the suit says. She landed on her neck and suffered a fracture to her spine that has left her in need of a motorized wheelchair.
Colon’s attorney April Gilmore said the Morris County resident is in aggressive physical therapy and has regained some use of her left hand — but that there’s no telling whether she’ll ever walk again.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“This should’ve never happened. It’s only because a volunteer from Spartan Race provided her assistance that quite frankly she didn’t ask for,” said Gilmore.