No legs, no problem for Eugene's Ravi Drugan

By Dirk Weishaar KVAL Sports Published: Jan 21, 2011 at 11:52 PM PDT Last Updated: Jan 22, 2011 at 4:32 PM PDT
No legs, no problem for Eugene's Ravi Drugan »Play Video

 

EUGENE, Ore. - A train hit him in 2004.

"All that went through his mind I think was, 'I must be dead,'" said Ravi Drugan speaking of the train conductor of a second train that spotted Ravi's broken body.

The second train helped save his life. The first train had severed his legs.

"It was a cold night that night," Drugan said. "So, that definitely helped with not losing too much blood.  I lost about two-thirds of my blood and thanks to an excellent surgeon, Dr. White, and some excellent emergency guys in Eugene, I'm here skiing up the mountain."

But that train didn't railroad his spirit.  With help from Oregon Adaptive Sports, Drugan took up skiing on a mono ski.

Now he wants to prove he is one of the world's best skiers. Period.

Drugan can out-ski most two plankers on the mountain any day, but his hope is to be the best mono skier at the Winter X Games. The X Games start Saturday, Jan. 29.

"Once I'm up skiing on the mountain, I'm really equal with everyone on the mountain if not a little bit better than some of them out there," said Drugan. "At least that's what some of them tell me."

Drugan gets in some of his best practicing at Mt. Bachelor Ski Resort and Hoodoo Ski Resort, but next weekend Ravi hopes to ski his very best in competition at the Winter X Games in Aspen, Colorado.

So: The X Games?

"I want to say a life-changing experience," Drugan predicted. "I'm really stoked about it and can't wait to be there. It'll definitely really settle in when I make it to Aspen or at least get on the road there."