Overcoming Adversity: From Motorcycle Crash to Paralympic Champion with Michelle Salt

Michelle Salt was born and raised on a game farm outside of a small Alberta town called Calmar. From an early age, Michelle had a passion for sports. When she was 13, she fell in love with snowboarding and chased the dream of someday becoming a professional snowboarder. Though she never made it to the pro level, her love for the sport never died.

In June, 2011, Michelle was out for an evening ride when she lost control of her motorcycle. Upon impact, she broke several bones and severed her femoral artery, causing her to almost bleed to death. She spend 7 days on life support, 5 months in the hospital recovering, and lost her right leg 10 inches above the knee. Though she knew she was going to have some tough times ahead of her, Michelle was determined to get back on snowboard and carve her way to the 2014 Sochi Paralympic Games. In March of 2014, Michelle made that dream a reality when she competed in the debut of snowboarding becoming the first ever Female Canadian Paralympic snowboarder. She pushed herself to new levels leading into the 2018 games with 13 World Cup Podiums, ranked 3rd Overall and was the most Marketed Canadian Winter Paralympian. She just missed the Podium with a 4th place finish in Boardercross and 5th in Banked Slalom with the top finish for Canada.

Michelle loves to try it all! Her favorite hobbies currently are riding her Dirtbike, Snowmobiling in the backcountry, learning new tricks on her wakesurf board, volunteering her time to Adaptive sport and exploring the beautiful Okanagan with her Dog Lenny.

Michelle is an Interior BC Realtor, Mobility and Accessibility Consultant for Motion, a Motivational Speaker and a competitive Wakesurfer. For more on Michelle and what she's currently up to, visit her website, or follow her on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.