Thu Jan 19 2012
Sarah Burke was a freestyle skiing pioneer who pushed her sport to new limits, all the way into the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
Canadian freestyle skier Sarah Burke died Thursday morning at the University of Utah Hospital from injuries sustained in a training accident at Park City Mountain Resort last week.
“Sarah passed away peacefully surrounded by those she loved,” wrote Iris Yen, vice president of communications and public relations at Quiksilver, in a press release later in the day.
“As the result of Sarah’s fall, she suffered a ruptured vertebral artery, one of the four major arteries supplying blood to the brain,” wrote Yen. “The rupture of this artery led to a severe intracranial hemorrhage, which caused Sarah to go into cardiac arrest on the scene.”
Emergency personnel administered CPR and she was placed on life support.
The injured artery was repaired on Jan. 11 but after the operation, it was determined that she had suffered “severe irreversible damage to her brain due to lack of oxygen and blood after cardiac arrest.”
The family is directing contributions to http://www.giveforward.com/sarahburke
A celebration of Burke’s life will be held in the coming weeks, according to the press release.
The freestyle ski community is reeling from the news.
“She was just someone so larger than life. It’s very hard to imagine she's not with us anymore,” said Peter Judge, CEO Canadian Freestyle Ski Association telephone interview.
“I guess even knowing there was a pretty significant chance this might be the outcome, you're obviously left without words and with significant emotion.”
One of the Canadian coaches is Trennon Paynter, Burke’s longtime coach and the head coach of the Canadian Olympic freestyle half pipe team.
“Trennon’s very close to Rory and her family and is very shaken,” said Judge. “It’s going to take some significant time and some resources in terms of people help to get through this right now. Our hearts are with her family and her husband Rory.”
Judge said Burke leaves a rich legacy with her impressive wins and the way she carried herself off the mountain.
“She was just the kind of person who gave so much to the sport and transcended the sport in so many ways,” he said. “She created a real significance as an athlete and as a representative of female athletes. The the greater realm, she'll be deeply missed.”
Canadian teammate Roz Gronewoud tweeted: “Thank you for being a great teammate for 6 years and for believing in me more than I ever did myself. You’ll always be my hero. Love you Sarah”
Burke is a four-time Winter X Games champion and had been scheduled to defend her 2011 title later this month in Aspen, Colo. Burke tried many of the toughest tricks in her sport and was the first woman to land a 1080 — three full revolutions — in competition. It was not known what move she was performing when she was injured.
Before the accident, Burke was on a path that would have made her an odds-on favourite to win more X Games gold and possibly even the big prize at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
She fell while training at a personal sponsor event at the Park City Mountain Resort, an accident that witnesses said didn’t look as bad as it later turned out to be.
Burke was on the same halfpipe where snowboarder Kevin Pearce suffered a traumatic brain injury after a near-fatal fall on Dec. 31, 2009.
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