Canadian freestyle skier Sarah Burke, 29, dies

Global News : Thursday, January 19, 2012 8:05 PM

SALT LAKE CITY - Canadian freestyle skier Sarah Burke died peacefully in a Utah hospital surrounded by loved ones, her family and publicist confirmed Thursday.

Burke, 29, passed away at 9:22 a.m. from injuries sustained in a training accident that occurred on Jan. 10.

“The family expresses their heartfelt gratitude for the international outpouring of support they have received from all the people Sarah touched,” her publicist Nicole Wool said in a statement.

She said Burke’s family will not be making any other public comments and have asked the media to respect their privacy.

Canadians have reacted with sadness on Facebook and Twitter.

"She was my role model I wanted to be like her but now she's gone, her poor parents a terrible loss, ... it's time to drop the skis today," Brooke Bilodeau posted on Globalnews.ca's Facebook page.

"Canadian winter sports will never be the same. I hope Canada never forgets her achievements of 5 golds (1 for half pipe and 4 for superpipe) and one silver (superpipe). Our heartfelt condolences and sincere THANK YOU to the Burke family for sharing this beautiful young woman with such a spirit for life with the whole of Canada," noted Helen Belanger Vock.

Peter Judge, chief executive officer of the Canadian Freestyle Ski Association, said Burke loved her sport.

“Sarah was a person who I think in many ways was larger than life and lived life to the fullest,” he said.

“She was one of those people who was very outgoing, gregarious and someone who certainly saw her place in the world and saw what she was doing as being a gift she truly loved doing,” he said.

While practicing, Burke fell and ruptured a vertebral artery, one of the four major arteries that supply blood to the brain. The rupture led to severe hemorrhaging, which caused Burke to go into cardiac arrest.

Judge said Burke was practicing a flatspin 540, a move Burke was already readily familiar with, calling the incident a “freak accident.”

“It was certainly well within the realm of her skill ability,” he said.

“It’s pretty clear this injury was one that was more of a freak accident than it was caused by anything in specific terms,” he said.

He said grief counselling has been offered to Burke’s teammates and family.

“Those around are having a tough time reconciling the nature of the injury ...,” Judge said.

Officials at the hospital confirmed Monday that Burke had to be resuscitated at the Park City Mountain Resort before she was airlifted to hospital.

“Emergency personnel responded and CPR was administered on the scene during which time she remained without a pulse or spontaneous breathing. She was placed on life support and a protocol of therapeutic hypothermia was initiated to protect her brain,” a statement from the hospital’s Clinical Neurosciences Center read.

Her family cancelled a Monday afternoon news conference after they received an update from doctors, although they did not say how Burke’s condition had changed.

The statement said that while early media reports suggested that Burke’s injury was a traumatic brain injury, her condition was a result of a lack of oxygen to the brain during cardiac arrest.

Her organs were donated, in accordance with Burke’s wishes.

“She passed away peacefully surrounded by those she loved,” the statement said.

Burke, a native of Barrie, Ont. had to undergo surgery to repair a tear to her vertebral artery – located in the neck – that caused bleeding on her brain.

The four-time Winter X Games champion was injured at the same halfpipe where snowboarder Kevin Pearce faced an accident in December 2009.

“The family was moved by the sincere and heartfelt sympathy expressed by people inspired by Sarah from all around the world,” the statement said.

The family has received a “substantial” number of inquiries from people who have asked to donate to Burke’s cause, http://www.giveforward.com/sarahburke.

A public celebration of Sarah’s life will be scheduled in the coming weeks.