And then everything changed in an instant on the slopes of Vail.
Zoey McVoy, a high-achieving, scholarship-holding, varsity basketball-playing senior at Saint Andrew’s School in Boca Raton, Florida, suffered catastrophic injuries during a spring break skiing trip to Colorado in March 2026. Her story — of resilience, community, a close-knit family, and a remarkable fight to survive — quickly captured the attention of people across the country.
This is the full biography of Zoey McVoy: who she is, where she comes from, what she was building before the accident, and how she’s fighting her way back.
Who Is Zoey McVoy?
Zoey McVoy is a lifelong resident of Boca Raton, Florida, and a senior at Saint Andrew’s School, where she attends on an academic scholarship. stripes She’s a varsity basketball player, an academically distinguished student with a passion for both medicine and law, and a member of a family with deep roots in the Boca Raton community.
In March 2026, her senior year was derailed when she suffered severe injuries in a ski accident in Vail, Colorado during spring break, clickorlando becoming the subject of widespread news coverage and an outpouring of community support.
Early Life and Growing Up in Boca Raton, Florida
Boca Raton is one of South Florida’s most well-regarded communities — a city known for its strong schools, close-knit neighborhoods, and families that put down roots and stay. Zoey McVoy grew up right at the center of that world.
A Family With Deep Community Roots
The McVoy family has deep roots in the Boca Raton community, characterized by years of volunteerism and active participation in the local educational system. Nippon.com People who know them describe them as the kind of family you see everywhere — at school events, in volunteer roles, in the fabric of everyday community life.
Longtime family associates, who have known the family since the kindergarten years, describe them as a devoted unit that has been part of the city’s social fabric through classroom volunteering and school-sanctioned activities. stripes
That kind of foundation matters. It tells you something about who Zoey is — and why, when tragedy struck, an entire city moved to support her.
Life as a Boca Raton Kid — Schools, Sports, and Early Ambitions
Zoey came up through Boca Raton’s schools before landing at Saint Andrew’s, one of Florida’s premier independent preparatory schools. From early on, she showed the kind of drive that gets you noticed — not just in sports, but in the classroom too.
She’s the kind of student who doesn’t just show up. She shows up prepared, engaged, and pushing herself further than the assignment requires. That wouldn’t become fully visible to the wider public until later — but her teachers and coaches saw it long before anyone else did.
Academic Life at Saint Andrew’s School
Saint Andrew’s School in Boca Raton isn’t just a good school — it’s one of the most academically rigorous prep schools in South Florida. Getting in is one thing. Earning a scholarship is something else entirely.
Earning Her Scholarship — No Small Achievement
Zoey attends Saint Andrews on an academic scholarship, clickorlando which speaks volumes. At a school like Saint Andrew’s, academic scholarships don’t go to students who just do well on tests. They go to students who demonstrate consistently exceptional ability, intellectual curiosity, and the kind of work ethic that stands out to admissions committees and faculty alike.
Zoey earned that.
The “Solutions in Medicine” Course That Defined Her Future Goals
One of the clearest windows into Zoey’s academic identity came in the summer before her senior year. She enrolled in an intensive summer program called “Solutions in Medicine” — a course designed to push students toward thinking critically about the intersection of healthcare, ethics, and public policy.
The experience clearly left its mark. Saint Andrew’s singled McVoy out for her work during the course, with the school’s Facebook post reading: “A special shoutout to Zoey McVoy ’26, who shared how this course strengthened her passion for both medicine and law. We’re proud of our students and excited to see how this innovative program continues to grow.” CBS News
That’s not a throwaway shoutout. When a school calls out a specific student by name and credits them for sharing how a course shaped their future direction — that’s a student who made an impression.
Balancing the Books With the Hardwood
Here’s what makes Zoey’s story particularly compelling from an achievement standpoint: she’s not just an academic star. She’s doing all of this while playing competitive varsity basketball at the same time.
Balancing the demands of an elite prep school curriculum with the time commitment of a varsity sport is hard. Most students pick one or the other as their primary identity. Zoey was doing both — and doing both well.
Zoey McVoy the Athlete — Varsity Basketball at Saint Andrew’s
Zoey McVoy played girls’ varsity basketball for Saint Andrew’s School, Class of 2026. kursiv She joined Hudl — the sports performance platform used by serious high school athletes and coaches — in October 2022, signaling early commitment to the sport.
Career Highlights and Stats
Zoey is ranked in the top 8 in Division 3A for one statistical category, and top 7 in Palm for one stat, gamereactor which is a meaningful distinction in a talent-dense South Florida basketball landscape.
Her team — the Saint Andrew’s Scots — competed in the 2026 FHSAA Girls Basketball District Tournaments in 3A District 12. Over the 2025–26 season, they put together a series of strong performances, including a dominant 71–15 win against Florida Atlantic University High School and a tight 39–38 victory over Palm Beach Lakes.
A Season Defined by Grit and Teamwork
What stands out looking at Zoey’s MaxPreps timeline isn’t just the wins and losses. It’s the consistency. She was logged into game reports week after week, contributing to a team competing at a high level in a tough district. She played through narrow defeats and blowout victories alike.
That kind of consistency — showing up every week, in a demanding academic environment, on scholarship — reflects something about her character that goes well beyond whatever the box score says.
The Spring Break That Changed Everything — The Vail Skiing Accident
Spring break 2026 arrived the way it does every year for South Florida seniors: with a collective exhale. The end of high school was finally close enough to see. Zoey had earned the break.
She made plans to visit Vail, Colorado — one of the premier ski destinations in the country — as a guest of a friend. It would be a chance to try something new, see the mountains, and make a memory before graduation.
A First-Time Skier on the Slopes of Vail
The incident took place while Ms. McVoy was visiting the popular ski destination as a guest of a friend, stripes and by all accounts, she was a first-time or very inexperienced skier on the mountain. Vail is a world-class resort with terrain for every skill level — but even the gentler runs carry real risk for someone brand new to the sport, especially if they’re not fully equipped with beginner instruction and proper safety gear awareness.
Nobody goes to Vail expecting this to happen. That’s the thing about accidents. They don’t announce themselves.
Minute by Minute: What Happened on the Mountain
The accident occurred on the slopes during her spring break trip. She lost control and fell — and the impact was catastrophic. What appeared at first to be a hard fall quickly became something far more serious.
The Initial Misdiagnosis — When Ski Patrol Didn’t See the Full Picture
Initially, the ski patrol and nurses at the local hospital did not realize the full extent of her injuries. clickorlando This is more common than people realize with multisystem trauma — when injuries span multiple body systems simultaneously, symptoms don’t always present dramatically right away. Some internal injuries, including spleen ruptures, can worsen rapidly in the hours following an impact before the full picture becomes clear.
In Zoey’s own words: “However, they quickly realized that it was something more serious and I had to be transported to another hospital through a helicopter.” clickorlando
Emergency Airlift to Denver Health Hospital
Zoey McVoy was airlifted for emergency treatment after the first-time skiing excursion resulted in severe multisystem trauma. stripes She was flown to Denver Health Hospital, one of Colorado’s leading Level I trauma centers — a facility built specifically to handle the kind of complex, life-threatening injuries she had sustained.
When you’re airlifted from a ski resort to a Level I trauma center, the situation is critical. Zoey’s was.
The Injuries in Full — A Medical Overview
The full picture of Zoey’s injuries is, frankly, staggering. This wasn’t one bad injury. It was a cascade of them — each serious enough to be life-threatening on its own, all happening simultaneously.
Grade 5 Spleen Rupture — What That Actually Means
When she arrived at Denver Health Hospital, the doctors immediately put her into surgery for her spleen, which had a grade 5 rupture and threatened her life. clickorlando
To understand why that’s terrifying: the spleen is graded on a scale of 1 to 5 when it comes to injury severity. Grade 5 is the worst classification — it means near-complete or complete destruction of the organ, often with massive, life-threatening internal bleeding. Grade 5 spleen injuries require immediate surgical intervention. Without it, they’re fatal.
Zoey made it to that surgery.
Eight Broken Ribs, a Punctured Lung, and Titanium Plates
Doctors discovered that 8 of her ribs were severely broken, causing her to bruise and puncture her lung. clickorlando Broken ribs are painful. Eight broken ribs severe enough to puncture a lung is a medical emergency in its own right, requiring careful management of breathing and oxygen levels.
Surgeons placed titanium plates in her ribs to put them back in place Journey with Jesus — a procedure used in severe chest trauma to restore the structural integrity of the ribcage and allow proper breathing mechanics to return.
Skull Fractures, Shattered Eye Socket, and Facial Reconstruction
As if that weren’t enough, doctors discovered 3 different bones in her skull were fractured and also required surgery. clickorlando Among those fractures was a shattered eye socket, along with fractures to her face and forehead that required surgical repair using titanium plates — the same material used in her ribs, this time reconstructing the structure of her face.
These are the kinds of injuries that require not just a surgeon, but a team of them.
Brain Bleed and Concussion — The Neurological Battle
Zoey also had a brain bleed and concussion. clickorlando Of all her injuries, this is perhaps the one with the longest and least predictable recovery timeline. Traumatic brain injuries — even relatively contained bleeds — can affect memory, concentration, mood, balance, and cognitive function for months or years. The neurological monitoring and rehabilitation process that follows a brain bleed is intensive and requires patience.
Three Surgeries. Zero Serious Complications. One Long Road Ahead.
Three separate surgical procedures. Each one necessary. Each one dangerous. Each one completed.
Zoey’s Own Account — Her Words From the Hospital
Zoey wrote a personal update that was shared publicly, and the maturity and clarity of her words under those circumstances is remarkable. She described the sequence of events, the surgeries, and then wrote something that stopped a lot of people cold:
“I honestly don’t know what my return to school, graduation, college decisions, and my way of life will look like for the next several months.” clickorlando
That sentence captures something important. She’s not being dramatic. She’s being honest. And that kind of clear-eyed acknowledgment of uncertainty, from someone who just went through what she went through, says a lot about who Zoey McVoy is.
What Her Mother Ann McVoy Shared With the World
Zoey’s mother, Ann McVoy, wrote on Facebook that while there is a long road ahead, all the surgeries had been completed with no serious complications. clickorlando Her message struck a balance of honesty and hope: this is hard, and it’s not over, but the worst is behind us.
She wrote: “We do have a long road ahead of us. We are trying hard to navigate this unique situation. I will say all the surgeries have been completed and we have had no serious complications. She is now in a healing and recovery type of situation.”
That last phrase — “a healing and recovery type of situation” — is the kind of thing a parent says when they’re choosing their words carefully, trying to be truthful without being terrifying. It’s the voice of someone who has been sitting beside a hospital bed and is choosing, deliberately, to focus forward.
The Recovery Process for Multisystem Trauma
Recovering from injuries like Zoey’s isn’t a single timeline — it’s several overlapping ones. The spleen heals on its own schedule. The ribs need time for the bone and titanium to become one. The facial fractures require follow-up assessments. The lung needs to fully re-expand. And the brain injury — that one plays by its own rules entirely.
Multisystem trauma recovery typically involves a multidisciplinary team: trauma surgeons, neurologists, orthopedic specialists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and sometimes neuropsychologists for cognitive recovery work. It’s not measured in weeks. It’s measured in months — sometimes years.
The Boca Raton Community’s Response — A City Rallying Around One of Its Own
What happened after Zoey’s accident became public is a reminder of what communities can still do when they come together around one of their own.
Saint Andrew’s School Speaks Out
Saint Andrew’s School, which had publicly celebrated Zoey just months earlier for her work in the Solutions in Medicine program, responded with the kind of solidarity you’d hope for from a school community. The incident sent shockwaves through the student body, staff, and administration — a senior on scholarship, weeks from graduation, now fighting for her life in a Denver hospital.
Friends, Teammates, and Classmates Mobilize
The sudden transition from planning for graduation and prom to a fight for survival left the Saint Andrew’s community and the broader Boca Raton area in a state of shock, rallying to provide the compassion and resources necessary for such a grueling recovery journey. Nippon.com
That response included social media support, public statements, and — critically — financial assistance through an organized crowdfunding campaign.
The Senior Year That Was Supposed to Be Hers
Instead of enjoying the final months of her senior year — prom, graduation, and preparing for college — Zoey is now facing a long and difficult road to recovery. Journey with Jesus
Let that sink in for a moment. Prom. Graduation. College. These weren’t abstract milestones — they were weeks away. The year of her life where all the hard work was supposed to pay off, all the late study nights and early practice mornings were supposed to culminate in a celebration, has been replaced by ICU monitoring, surgical recovery, and an uncertain timeline.
How to Support Zoey McVoy’s Recovery
If Zoey’s story has moved you and you want to do something concrete, there’s a clear way to help.
The GoFundMe Campaign — What It Covers
A GoFundMe campaign titled “Help Zoey McVoy Recover After Devastating SKI Accident” was organized by Michelle Grau Journey with Jesus to help the McVoy family navigate the enormous financial demands of Zoey’s situation. Multisystem trauma of this severity means extended hospital stays, multiple specialist consultations, surgical costs, and eventually outpatient rehabilitation — potentially months of it.
The campaign can be found at: gofundme.com/f/support-zoey-mcvoys-recovery-journey
Every contribution — regardless of size — reduces the weight the family carries as they focus entirely on Zoey’s healing.
Other Ways to Show Support
If donating financially isn’t possible, sharing the story raises awareness of the campaign. Sending messages of encouragement through community channels, following the family’s updates, and keeping Zoey in your thoughts all matter. Recovery from injuries like hers isn’t just physical. The emotional and psychological weight of what she’s going through is real — and knowing that people beyond her immediate circle are paying attention and rooting for her makes a genuine difference.
What Zoey’s Story Teaches Us About Skiing Safety for First-Timers
Zoey’s accident isn’t a reason to never ski. But it is a powerful reminder that skiing — even at beginner level — carries real risk, and that risk rises sharply when people skip the basics of preparation.
FAQ — Everything People Are Asking About Zoey McVoy
Who is Zoey McVoy? Zoey McVoy is a high school senior from Boca Raton, Florida, attending Saint Andrew’s School on an academic scholarship. She’s a varsity girls basketball player with strong academic achievements and a stated passion for medicine and law. In March 2026, she suffered life-threatening injuries in a skiing accident in Vail, Colorado during spring break.
What happened to Zoey McVoy? Zoey was involved in a serious skiing accident in Vail, Colorado while visiting as a guest of a friend during spring break. She suffered catastrophic multisystem trauma including a Grade 5 spleen rupture, eight broken ribs (with a punctured lung), three fractured skull bones, a shattered eye socket, severe facial fractures, a brain bleed, and a concussion. She was airlifted to Denver Health Hospital, where she underwent three surgeries.
What are Zoey McVoy’s injuries from the skiing accident? Her injuries include a Grade 5 spleen rupture, eight severely broken ribs (causing a bruised and punctured lung), three fractured skull bones, a shattered eye socket, fractures to the face and forehead requiring titanium plate repair, a brain bleed, and a concussion. Surgeons also placed titanium plates in her ribs to stabilize her chest structure.
Is Zoey McVoy still in the hospital? As of the most recent updates in mid-March 2026, Zoey is recovering at Denver Health Hospital in Denver, Colorado. Her mother Ann McVoy confirmed that all surgeries were completed without serious complications and that Zoey is now in a healing and recovery phase — though the road ahead is long.
Where does Zoey McVoy go to school? She attends Saint Andrew’s School in Boca Raton, Florida — one of South Florida’s most prestigious independent preparatory academies. She attends on an academic scholarship and was a member of the school’s varsity girls basketball team.
How can I donate to Zoey McVoy’s recovery? A GoFundMe campaign has been organized to help support Zoey and her family through the extensive costs of her medical treatment and rehabilitation. You can find it at: gofundme.com/f/support-zoey-mcvoys-recovery-journey
What is a Grade 5 spleen rupture? A Grade 5 spleen rupture is the most severe classification of splenic injury. It typically involves near-complete destruction of the spleen with massive internal bleeding that poses an immediate threat to life. Emergency surgical intervention is required, and without it, Grade 5 spleen injuries are fatal. Zoey underwent emergency surgery for this injury upon arrival at Denver Health Hospital.
What sport did Zoey McVoy play? Zoey McVoy played varsity girls basketball for Saint Andrew’s School (the Scots) in Boca Raton, Florida. She joined the program in 2022 and was part of the team through the 2025–26 season, competing in FHSAA 3A District 12 tournaments. She is ranked among the top players in Division 3A in at least one statistical category.