Paralyzing accident didn't stop Stahltown's Katie Smith, an inspiration to others

Katie Smith of Stahlstown did not let a car accident that left her paralyzed stop her from living life the way she wanted, from continuing to play sports here and abroad to being a positive impact in people’s lives, according to her friends.

Smith, who was crowned Ms. Wheelchair Pennsylvania in 2013, was an amazing person who worked with youth who had disabilities, giving them hope that they can do what they wanted to do with their life, said her friend, Josie Badger of New Castle, who was Ms. Wheelchair America in 2012. Badger had handed her Ms. Pennsylvania crown to Smith.

Ms. Katherine Clare Smith, 36, died Sunday, Feb. 27, 2022, at UPMC Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh.

She was born Aug. 30, 1985, in Latrobe, the daughter of Patricia O’Brien Smith and the late Robert Melville Smith.

She attended the Valley School of Ligonier from kindergarten through ninth grade and then Mt. Pleasant Area High School, where she graduated in 2003.

“She used everything life gave her to become the best she could be,” Badger said. She did not view needing a wheelchair to give her mobility as a disadvantage because “it gave her so many opportunities,” Badger said.

Smith had been working for the Disabilities Option Network in Greensburg as its youth engagement director.

Badger said she and Smith made appearances together at the Parent Education & Advocacy Leadership (PEAL) Center in Pittsburgh, which works with disabled children and their families.

“She was a one of those one-in-a-million people. I personally never met anyone who did not like Katie,” Badger said.

Smith was such a happy person, said Barb Zablotney of Windber, a 2018 Ms. Wheelchair Pennsylvania and president of the Ms. Wheelchair Pennsylvania organization.

Zablotney said that she and Smith were both told they were limited in what they could do, so they found a new way to do things in their life.

Smith pursued her love of sports by skiing and playing rugby, curling and bocce, Zablotney said.

“She traveled the world playing bocce,” Zablotney said. Smith was a member of the USA Boccia Paralympic national team.

She competed in the Pittsburgh Marathon three times as a hand cyclist, having been instructed by instructed by Three Rivers Adaptive Sports.

Smith was a board member of the local chapter of United Spinal Association and the Stoneybrook Foundation, which operates a therapeutic riding center in Acme.

It was while attending Penn State University and studying to be a nurse when Smith was in a car accident in July 2007, causing a catastrophic spinal cord injury.

Smith enrolled at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, where she graduated cum laude in 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and with elementary and special education certificates.

Since 2008, she had competed as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelwheelers rugby team and twice competed in Paris in an international, all-women rugby tournament.

Smith had played soccer in high school. Her coach, Jerry DeFlitch of East Huntingdon, recalled that Smith was a joy to coach and that she always worked hard.

“Anyone who knew her will tell you she had a clever, quiet sense of humor and expressed care and concern for others in need. Most impressively, she had that exact same personality and character after the accident and through her therapy. That was inspiring to me, and I am sure it was to all those who encountered her,” said DeFlitch, retired executive managing editor of the Tribune-Review.

A group of teammates and “eternally grateful friends” penned the following statement, which was released by Erin Clark.

“Katie had the ability to see you, even when no one else did, and the uncanny talent to relate to every single person she met without hesitation. A true individual and unlike anyone we have ever met or will ever meet. She was also full of sarcasm, wit, was habitually late, and we loved her even more for it. There was never an opportunity missed on a good one liner. And there was never a time that she allowed anything to stop her from doing what she loved.

“Her spirit was infectious, and it was hard not to be jealous of the way she approached life. She was too good for all of us, and we are beyond blessed to have her friendship. Katie has forever impacted our lives in the best way possible and there are no words for the mark she has left on all of us.”

In addition to her father, she was preceded in death by her brother, Timothy O. Smith.

In addition to her mother, she is survived by her brother, Patrick M. Smith.

Friends and family will be received from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Snyder-Green Funeral Home, 402 E. Church St., Ligonier, where a funeral service will immediately follow. Burial will be private.

Memorial contributions may be made in Smith’s memory to Three Rivers Adaptive Sports, P.O. Box 38235, Pittsburgh PA 15216 or www.traspa.org, and the Pittsburgh Steelwheelers, www.pittsburghsteelwheelers.com.