Lauren De Crescenzo | Impact Award Honoree

Lauren De Crescenzo is a professional cyclist, competing in races throughout the world. On April 2, 2016 in the final meters of the San Dimas Stage Race, her handlebars got caught in the metal fencing surrounding the finish. She flipped over the fencing, onto her head, sustaining a severe traumatic brain injury and multiple other injuries. She was airlifted to the University of Southern California ICU, where she was intubated and placed in a medically induced coma. 3 weeks later she was flown to Craig Hospital to continue her rehabilitation.
After five weeks at Craig, Lauren returned home to begin to rebuild her life. Since her Craig discharge, she has completed her Master of Public Health at the University of Colorado-Denver, published research on the epidemiology of traumatic brain injuries, and served with the Centers for Disease Control in Injury Prevention in Atlanta.
Along with returning to school and work, Lauren has continued racing her bicycle. She won the gold medal in the 2019 USA Cycling Collegiate National Championships Individual Time Trial, taken the victory in several gravel endurance events, and set a World Record for the fastest time to ride the elevation gain of Mt. Everest on a bicycle (called “Everesting”) to raise money for the Craig Foundation.
Since graduating from Craig, Lauren has been one of the hospital’s leading patient voices, not afraid to speak up for the mental health issues of patients who have sustained a TBI. She has spoken at numerous Craig fundraisers, educated physicians about her experience, and raised awareness through her amazing success story.
Lauren received the Craig Hospital Impact Award in 2022 in honor of her professional success and commitment to making a positive impact in the world following her injury.
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Craig Hospital in Denver, Colorado, is a world-renowned rehabilitation hospital that specializes exclusively in the neurorehabilitation and research of patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) and brain injury (BI). Craig is a not-for-profit, free-standing, national center of excellence that has treated more than 34,500 patients with SCI and BI since 1956. craighospital.org
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