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A member of the Utah State University women's track and field team was recovering in a Las Vegas hospital Friday after falling while rappelling from cliffs in St. George earlier last week.

According to her brother, Braden Fisher, Brittany Fisher broke both legs and suffered a severe spinal injury that has left her temporarily paralyzed from the waist down.

"They [doctors] think she will be able to walk again eventually," said Braden Fisher on Friday.

Police Capt. James Van Fleet said Fisher, 21, was rappelling Monday about 3 a.m. with a friend when she was injured. He said it is unclear exactly what happened, but that Fisher may have burned an ungloved hand and begun sliding down the rope too fast where the cliffs rise 85 to 100 feet.

After she hit the ground, her companion called for help. Once she had been stabilized by rescue crews from St. George and Washington County, Fisher was flown by medical helicopter to University Hospital in Las Vegas.

Van Fleet said he does not know why the two were rappelling so early in the morning.

"It makes no rhyme or reason," he said. "Maybe they liked the thrill of going over the [cliff] edge in the dark."

Fisher, of Naperville, Ill., where she ran track, is a junior studying elementary education at Utah State University, according to her brother, who also attends USU in Logan.

He said his sister was released from intensive care on Friday and was in low spirits as the reality of her injuries began to sink in.

Doctors operated on her back and had to reconstruct her right leg and foot with an iron rod and screws, he said. Her left leg will need the same surgery when the swelling goes down.

"She loves to run long distance," said Braden Fisher, a senior majoring in finance.

He said his sister was more optimistic when he talked to her earlier in the week. "She was smiling and outgoing, but [Friday] there was some discouragement as she realized the long road ahead of her."

Her coach at USU, Gregg Gensel, took time out Thursday from a track meet in Tucson to visit Brittany Fisher at the hospital.

He called the accident tragic, but said that Brittany Fisher was the type of person who saw a silver lining in every cloud.

"She is just a great young lady," he said. "She has an attitude that will overcome anything in life."

Gensel said she is a good athlete who leads by example whose attitude is to always improve her abilities.

At USU, Brittany Fisher was named academic all-WAC. At Naperville Central High School, she was a three-time letter winner in distance running and hurdles.