MONROE — Emotions run high when Matt Collura, who suffered serious brain trauma in a snowboarding accident in 2011, thinks about running again.
“It may never happen,” he said pausing mid-sentence. “But it’s something I strive for.”
At the time of the accident, Collura, who was 27 then, was training for the New York City Marathon. He already had a half marathon under his belt at a time of 1 hour and 41 minutes.
Collura sat down with Newspaper Media Group with his parents Tony and Linda at their home in Monroe on Oct. 6. This year, the family is holding the eighth annual Matt Collura 5K Run, Walk and Barbecue on Oct. 14 at Thompson Park in Jamesburg.
Collura, now 34, was a three sport captain — winter/spring track and soccer — at Monroe Township High School. He had a run a 4 minute, 37 second mile.
“It was the eighth fastest in the county,” he recalled, his eyes lighting up.
The family recalled the accident and discussed how much Collura has progressed since then.
“Matt does not remember two weeks leading up to the accident,” Linda said.
It was March 9, 2011, when Collura’s life changed forever. It was shortly after he finished graduate school at the New Jersey Institute of Technology with a degree in architecture.
Collura and his friend, Tyler Chiara, took a day trip to Shawnee Mountain Ski Area in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. Collura said it was his third time snowboarding.
“I was a rookie on the mountain,” he said.
From the pieces of what Chiara has shared with the family and the snow patrol that day, Collura and Chiara had started making their way down the mountain; however, Collura never made it down the mountain.
Five hours later, Chiara and snow patrol found Collura off the mountain path. Tony and Linda Collura said it is still not clear what exactly happened, but Matt Collura was found barely breathing and was bleeding from a head wound.
Matt Collura spent four weeks at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and then he was transported to Kessler Rehabilitation Center in West Orange for four months.
“He was unresponsive,” Tony Collura said. “Matt suffered two collapsed lungs, a broken chest bone, broken ribs … he was on a respirator.”
Linda Collura said in the four weeks he was at Lehigh Valley, Matt was pretty much unresponsive except for one eye opening.
“In our heart of hearts, we knew he heard us,” she said.
Tony Collura said usually Kessler does not take patients like Matt; however, they observed he had a very large and dedicated support system.
“By the time he left Kessler, Matt opened both of his eyes and was communicating by letter board,” he said.
Slowly, but surely, Matt Collura regained his voice and over the past eight years has gained more and more of his independence. He lives at Bankroft Group Home in Plainsboro.
“Now he makes his own bed. He still uses a wheelchair, but has his walker,” Tony said.
Matt Collura spends six hours a day, five days a week in rehabilitation. At his home, he runs a number of group sessions on a number of topics for the other residents, has taken up yoga, and also runs a blog on his own time.
The eighth annual Matt Collura 5K Run, Walk and BBQ will be held on Oct. 14 at Thompson Park, Perrineville Road, Jamesburg. Check in begins at 8:30 a.m. The race starts at 10:30 a.m.
Matt Collura will make an inspirational speech at the beginning of the race. Every year, he has crossed the finish line a different way to show his progression. Tony Collura said the first year he pushed Matt in a wheelchair and with the assistance of his physical therapist he walked across the finish line. Other years, Matt traversed the 3.1 miles in a terra trek wheelchair.
“We have something new planned this year,” Tony Collura said.
Chiara will be on hand with his band Ser Xerri at the barbecue after the race.
Participants must register in advance. The cost is $30 per person or $15 per child age 7 and younger. USATF discounts available.
Proceeds from the race will go toward the intense physical therapy and equipment needed to help him walk and run without assistance.
For more information or to become a sponsor, email [email protected], contact Tony Collura at 732-513-2628 or visit MattCollura5K.com.