Doctors release more information about Sarah Burke’s death
Posted Jan 20, 2012 6:26 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Neurosurgeons say the artery that ruptured when freestyle skier Sarah Burke fell during a training run earlier this month was one of the most critical blood vessels in the body.
That artery fed oxygen-rich blood to the brain stem, and the brain stem is what controls functions like breathing and heart function.
The severe brain injury eventually caused Burke to go into cardiac arrest.
Meanwhile, a fund has been set up to help the Burke family pay for her care while in hospital in Park City, Utah.
The bill for medical and other related costs is $550-thousand.
Burke is survived by her husband Rory, her parents and a sister.
The Barrie, Ontario native lived in Squamish, B.C., and was a four-time Winter X Games champion and an Olympic gold medal hopeful in 2014.
The President of the Canadian Olympic Committee, Marcel Aubut says Burke was a “true inspiration to all who had the privilege to know her.”
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