7Andrea started gymnastics when she was 3 years old and by the time she was 8 she was practicing over 20 hours per week year round. She also competed in track and field and was on her high school cheer squad. Andrea qualified for nationals as a freshman in high school and went on to be recruited by Cornell University to compete at the intercollegiate level. After forgoing high school gymnastics, she joined the team in her senior year. On January 22, 2003, during a routine high school gymnastics practice, she feels from the uneven parallel bars and landed flat on her back on an uneven mat set-up, resulting in compression and dislocation fractures and ASIA C paraplegia at the T10 level. She went on to complete a pre-med curriculum at Princeton University, an MHS in Reproductive Health at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and is pursuing a B.S. in Nursing and an M.S. in Nurse-Midwifery at Columbia University. Andrea continues her sports participation as a USA Gymnastics judge and is an avid recreational handcycle and has relearned to swim and plans to participate in Swim With Mike for years to come.