4 months after near-fatal accident, Pearce returns home to Vermont

Injured snowboarder returns home to Vermont

Snowboarder Kevin Pearce has returned home to Vermont more than four months after an accident on the halfpipe nearly took his life.

The 22-year-old, who had been considered one of the top challengers to Olympic gold medalist Shawn White, banged his head on the halfpipe during practice in Park City, Utah on Dec. 31 and fell into a coma.

He spent the next four months recuperating at hospitals in Utah and Colorado, and was recently released to return home in Norwich, Vt.

In an interview with NBC, Pearce said he is still struggling with his memory, balance and eyesight and says he has no memory of the accident that forced him to watch the Olympics from his hospital bed. He says he plans to return to snowboarding someday.