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Surrey club assists injured gymnast

Alanna Jones left paralyzed after summer accident
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SGS competitive program director John Carroll has set up a fundraising website for Alanna Jones (pictured)

The gymnastics community is rallying around one of their own.

Four months after a life-altering injury to Alanna Jones, an athlete/coach at the Surrey Gymnastics Society (SGS), John Carroll has set up a gofundme online account with a goal of raising $100,000.

Last August, Jones, 21, suffered a broken neck when she fell out of a tree, an injury which has left her a quadriplegic.

“Alanna and her family will have a lot of expenses coming their way over the next few years for sure,” wrote Carroll, the competitive program director at SGS, on the Go Fund Me website (https://www.gofundme.com/ssew27yc).

“Renovating a house for a wheelchair, a vehicle that can transport Alanna and her chair, physiotherapy, massage therapy, everyday supplies that cost a bundle.

“I am sure there are many expenses that I have not thought of and I am already way beyond the $100,000 target.”

The fund surpassed the $16,000 mark Monday afternoon.

The Jones family has been involved with SGS for 26 years. Sisters Kelsey and Kristy were members when Alanna was born. All three competed for many years, and along with mother Shelley, have volunteered as coaches.

“They have done many volunteer hours for our community club,” said Carroll. “Helping them now would mean the world.”

Jones, who retired from competitive gymnastics last spring, has been at the GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre in Vancouver since the accident.