A woman who was paralysed from the neck down after a ski accident has learnt to paint with her MOUTH - to show "resilience" after "tragedy"."

Rebecca Koltun, 24, was on a college ski trip in Vermont, US, when she fell and knocked herself unconscious.

She was alone at the time and had no pulse for 10 minutes before a stranger found her.

Rebecca was rushed off the mountain by the ski patrol and taken to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Centre, New Hampshire.

There she woke up to be told she has a C1-C2 spinal cord injury and she could no longer move her limbs or breathe on her own.

Rebecca spent the next year going through physical therapy and had a diaphragmatic pacer fitted so she could breathe independently.

Now she is paralysed from the neck down but paints with her mouth and goes to concerts with her friends.

Rebecca, who works in social media, from New York, US, said: "I had gone on a different trail. I was alone."

"I was told I had a bad fall."

"I had no pulse for 10 minutes."

"I told myself I had no choice. This is what it is. I have to move on."

The last thing Rebecca remembers is being picked up by her friends on the morning of March 13, 2021, but she was told she was alone when she fell.

Fortunately a stranger, who happened to be an emergency technician, found her and called the ski patrol to get her off the mountain and to hospital.

Rebecca was in the intensive care unit (ICU) for 17 days and was on a ventilator so she could breathe.

She said: "I woke up in ICU a few days later."

She was told she'd had a fall and had been paralysed from the neck down.

Rebecca said: "At first it didn’t really sink in."

"I was on a lot of medication."

"It was so sad. I was convinced I was the saddest person in the world – that my life was over."

Rebecca was transferred to Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Boston, where she underwent physical therapy.

She said: "Rehab got my body accustomed to sitting up and to retrain it to without passing out."

"I did a lot of neck exercising."

Rebecca was eventually fitted with a diaphragmatic pacer so she could breathe without a ventilator.

She said: "I had to project my voice and learn to speak slowly with my pacer."

After four-and-a-half months Rebecca was moved to Glen Cove Hospital, Long Island, while her house was being set up for her.

As part of her therapy, Rebecca found herself learning to paint with her mouth and she uses a mouth stick with a paintbrush attached to it.

She said: "I paint a lot. I sell my art online."

Rebecca was finally able to leave hospital and go home in February 2022.

She has full-time carers who dress and feed her but tries to be as independent as she can.

Rebecca said: "I can read using a voice control."

"I use a computer with an assisted device."

Rebecca has a very supportive family and friends and she has been able to go to Taylor Swift concerts and go on holiday to Florida.

She said: "It's bittersweet. The memories of doing things fun are further away but I can also see how far I have come."

"And how much better my art has got."

"I hang out with my friends a lot and spend a lot of time with my family. I've done lots of concerts and I went to Florida for a few weeks."

"I enjoy sharing my story. I have met people online with similar injuries."

"I'm showing them resilience. Life can move on after tragedy."

"I'm hopeful about the future."