'I wasn't getting up': Paralyzed Manitoba mother warns about ATV safety

Maranda Lanouette, 29, makes sure her two sons wear their helmets properly when they head out on all-terrain vehicles because that was the oversight that changed her life forever.

The Ste. Anne, Man., mother was riding on the back of an ATV on a trail out in Woodridge five years ago when she fell and became paralyzed.

"I am in a wheelchair forever and my hands don't work. I have no tricep muscles so my fingers are contracted," she said, pointing to her hands. "My feet, my legs, I can't move them. I have 16-inch rods all the way down my neck."

STARS Air Ambulance responded to 18 ATV related injuries in 2015, they've already had six so far this year. Flight paramedicTroy Pulse said a lot are preventable.

"A lot of them are speed related. A lot of them are quadding in unknown places where they are not familiar with the terrain," he said. "Unfortunately, a lot of them are alcohol related."

Lanouette said she was riding as a passenger with a group of around 20 ATVs.

"I don't know if we hit a tree root or accelerated a little or what, but I fell off the back, just straight back,"she said.

Her helmet wasn't fitted properly and that's what broke her neck.

"Once I fell I immediately knew that I wasn't getting up, it was instant paralysis," she said.

Her brother-in-law had to go to a nearby community to use a phone but the ambulance was unable to get to Lanouette onthe trail. After 45 minutes, STARS was dispatched and brought her to the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg in 20 minutes.

"I owe them my life.My kids owe them and my family," Lanouette said. "We will forever owe them and be thankful and be grateful."

The accident has not stopped Lanouette and her family from doing the activity they love, but she said they make sure to follow all the rules and take every precaution. She plans to return to the location of the accident, on an ATV which has been modified for her, this summer.

"I think it's very important, number one, to follow the rulespassenger-wise, speed-wise, equipment is what did it for me. I didn't make sure," she said.

Lanouette said no matter a person's skill level, they need to be diligent infollowing the rules, know their pathand make sure all equipment is working properly.