Ruminations

Blog dedicated primarily to randomly selected news items; comments reflecting personal perceptions

Friday, January 20, 2012

Severe Irreversible Damage

She was one of those shooting stars. Suddenly appearing in the firmament of elite athletes. Blazing her way to recognition and fame with the admiration of those who witnessed her skill and determination to push the boundaries of human endeavour and our binding relationship to the Earth we live upon through the force of gravity.

By all accounts she excelled at what she did best. Because what she did best was something that inspired her to keep on testing herself. "That's when we're the happiest", she told an interviewer, talking about her life and her husband's life as extreme sport enthusiasts. Winter sport was their passion, and this is what they lived for.

"...It's what our lives are, is being on the hill. And there's a reason for that, it's amazing, it's where we met, it's where we play, we live ..."

Who could argue with that? Her husband, during that interview about X Games contests, and the togetherness of snowmobiling that they so clung to, added: "And hopefully where we'll die." That struck a chord with Sarah Burke, and she repeated what her husband, Rory Bushfield had said: "And where we'll die."

And this is precisely what the pioneering superpipe skier did.

This is most certainly not what she meant to do. She was attempting a flat spin 540, something she had done countless times before. Only this time something went dreadfully wrong. She fell. She hit her head. That led to a disastrous outcome. A ruptured vertebral artery where blood was no longer supplied to her exuberantly adventurous brain.

She went into cardiac arrest then and there. And while the artery was surgically repaired later, it was too late for Sarah Burke. No mere band-aid surgery could repair the morbid trauma her brain had sustained. Which was "severe irreversible damage to her brain due to the lack of oxygen and blood after cardiac arrest."

Young, beautiful, bold and talented. A life crammed with excitement and satisfaction in what she did. And very much dead.

Back to article Sarah Burke, a fearless competitor who shaped her sport


  • Sarah Burke, nominee for Best Female Action Athlete, arrives at the 2011 ESPY Awards in Los Angeles, California in this July 13, 2011 file photograph.
    (Reuters) Hide caption
  • Sarah Burke seen atop <span class=Blackcomb in Whistler July 4, 2011." width="620" height="348">
    (JOHN LEHMANN/THE GLOBE AND MAIL) Show caption
  • Canadian Sarah Burke in winning action from the women's Half Pipe during the Freestyle World Ski Championships in <span class=Ruka, Finland, Thursday March 17, 2005." id="image-2" width="620" height="348">
    (Associated Press) Show caption
  • Sarah Burke of Midland, Ont. jumps to a gold medal in the <span class=halfpipe FIS world Cup event Friday, March 17, 2006 at Apex Mountain in Penticton, B.C." id="image-3" width="620" height="348">
    (The Canadian Press) Show caption
  • Sarah Burke of Midland, Ont. jumps to a gold medal in the <span class=halfpipe FIS world Cup event Friday, March 17, 2006 at Apex Mountain in Penticton, B.C.." id="image-4" width="620" height="348">
    (The Canadian Press) Show caption
  • Sarah Burke of Midland, Ont. smiles as she celebrates her gold medal in the <span class=halfpipe FIS world Cup event Friday, March 17, 2006 at Apex Mountain in Penticton, B.C." id="image-5" width="620" height=>
    (The Canadian Press) Show caption
  • Sarah Burke of Canada is airborne on her way to win the women's <span class=

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