Deena and Bristol Buffington before the procedure in New Jersey. (Courtesy Deena Buffington)Deena Buffington felt tears well up in her eyes. A pack of runners emerged from a grove of trees in Ouray. When she saw her daughter, Bristol, stride down the hill, she couldn’t hold back the emotions. It was a mixture of relief and joy.
In March 2025, Bristol spent 12 days in the Intensive Care Unit at a New Jersey hospital. Bristol had severe scoliosis and the Buffington’s met with specialists in Atlanta and Denver. The condition prevented Bristol from fulfilling her passion for distance running. When she reached three miles into a run the pain in her knee and hips forced her to stop.
The doctors ruled out running a metal rod down her spine, in fear it could limit Bristol’s future mobility. Instead, a surgeon in New Jersey cut the cartilage in between each vertebra, releasing and straightening Bristol’s spine where needed. Screws were placed to tether the spine straight.
The doctor also collapsed both lungs during the procedure. Bristol was supposed to be in the hospital for four days. But she has an overactive immune system and her body rejected the tubes in her chest. The family spent an entire month in New Jersey — and it’s easy to understand Deena’s tears after all their trials and tribulations.
“Even at the last race, at regionals, all I could think about was I hope she doesn’t push herself too hard,” Deena said. “It’s still scary, when they disappeared at the race in Ouray I couldn’t see them. When she came down the hill I was crying, one, because I was in shock. And two, because of what I saw her go through”
This year, Bristol started slowly with her cross country training. She would run for a minute, walk for three and slowly adjust until she could run a mile and rest. It was a grueling process, the muscles in her legs hadn’t been used for a while and she had to rebuild. But she wanted to run.
“It was hard because everyone else was running a lot more than me,” Bristol said. “It was really fun coming back though. It was an accomplishment every day just to run for a few more minutes. Then it was a few more miles. I’m feeling better now. I can run farther and not feel pain. I feel great and even beat my PR from last year. I’m running even faster.”
Bristol pushed through the regular season and at the end was training with the lead pack of GHS runners. Cowboys’ coach Blake Davis was inspired by her effort.
“I’m amazed and very proud of her,” Davis said. “She’s so deserving. She’s a tremendous human being. To have a setback like that and to be able to say, ‘I got this, I’m good,’ it gave me chills to see how well she did.”
Even when she was still in rehab, Deena said one thing was on Bristol’s mind.
“From the second she got home all she asked about was when she could run," she said. "That's all she wanted to do.
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