Souza suffered her injury in Utah, not Sochi. And now has to figure out how to come up with the funds that will help pay for medical care the rest of her life.

Even though Souza is Brazilian, her story resonates here in the U.S. where bitter political bickering over health insurance is a daily occurrence; and where we debate whether or not our universities are taking advantage of their athletes. And Souza's story closely resembles Canadian skier Sarah Burke, who died after a training accident in Park City, Utah in 2012. Like Souza, Burke did not have the proper insurance, and her family was left to pick up the medical bills. Good samaritans chipped in to give Burke's family more than $300,000 to help offset the costs.

According to Brazil's Estadao newspaper, Souza now needs money for things like her electric wheelchair, which actually belongs to the hospital treating her, and a tablet that will allow her to communicate. The Brazilian Olympic Committee won't cover those costs. The paper explains that around $32,000 have been raised through Lais's fundraising campaign.

What's also pretty awesome is that Souza is getting help and attention from various bitcoin and crypto-currency communities around the world. People want to help. Official wallets have been set up for Souza, Bitcoin News explains:

Headed by Alex Ferreira, a well known community member since 2011, the Brazilian Bitcoin community has also decided joining the fundraising campaign to help Lais. A new wallet was created for the campaign: Bitcoin: 1k8At2Pk6wMf8vtQZdTrjd9wELC4b47G7 Dogecoin: DSpScUNEietxYKkVUgXiFhf33cbMpthqw4 Litecoin: LSdficz7o3xPxVRuSzGvyPx8n2RhQwn8Hw

While the donations are impressive, Souza needs all the help she can get. According to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center at the University of Alamaba-Birmingham, sustaining an injury like Souza's at her age could cost up to $4 million during her lifetime if she were living in the United States. That doesn't include the money she'd be making before her injury.

There is an official fund set up for Souza here:

Laís da Silva Souza

Bradesco (the Bank)

Agência/ Code: 0548-7

Account: 0110490-0

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.