Former Lady Flames Basketball standout Ashley (Rininger) Schut (’14, ’15, ’16) is now walking by faith after a horrific paragliding accident over two years ago.
Schut, a detective with the Cleveland Police Department 4th District, has long enjoyed visiting national parks and doing extreme activities. In October 2023, she traveled west with her husband, Gabe, in search of more exciting adventures. While in Draper, Utah, Ashley Schut tried paragliding at Point of the Mountain Flight Park. Strapped to a flight instructor, she took off. But about 20 minutes into the flight, a hang glider collided with them, sending them crashing to the ground. The instructor didn’t survive the impact. Schut was airlifted to a hospital and underwent a five-hour emergency surgery to repair her fractured spine. She had broken her pelvis in five places, dislocated her shoulder, and suffered a double lung collapse.
“The first couple days in the hospital, I just remember being overwhelmingly thankful to still be alive and thankful I wasn’t going to be paralyzed,” Schut said.
Over the next four weeks, the couple remained in Utah, relying on the generosity of local first responders. She was able to travel home to Ohio on a medical jet and spent several weeks in a skilled nursing home and a rehab facility before finally returning to her house after almost two months.
A year after the accident, the Schuts returned to Utah to thank those who helped them throughout the early recovery process.
“I found that in difficult times, and even in times you really didn’t want to go through, God is still good, and He is still providing every step of the way,” Schut said.
“While we might not understand it, and I don’t think we ever will, we can trust that God is going to use us for His glory,” she added. “We can trust that He’s still faithful, even when life is hard.”
Schut played for the Flames from 2011-16. She currently ranks ninth in Liberty program history in points (1,380), fifth in rebounds (952), fifth in blocked shots (156), and sixth in field goal percentage (52.3%).
