Canadian freestyle skier Sarah Burke dies at age 29

[burn_this_city]

Good question. I half assumed that she was making decent money from sponsorship being the top female in her sport.

[Stranger]

You would think her sponsor would step up and donate some money to her family.

[Yeah_Baby]

Normally I pride myself in being cold and callus to things like this. But I watched the video with her and her husband, and frankly I'm a melancholy mess. I can't fathom the pain and turmoil her husband is going through. Frankly I'm at a loss for words.

[ResAlien]

Oh, so close to the weekend. Dude, that's a bummer.

[Yeah_Baby]

I'll be over it by tomorrow.


#realitysetsin

[carom]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

How was she a pioneer?

Well I remember hearing about her for the first time about 10 years ago. That was right about the time park and pipe skiing was really starting to gain more mainstream popularity.

She was one of the best skiers or the best skier in her category as long as it has been around. She was a very progressive female skier in one of the most progressive periods for skiing in the last 80-90 years.

[darklord700]

I never knew about Sarah before this accident. But there's absolutely no shame die doing what she loved and lived her life to the fullest. And only the good dies young. RIP.

[bossy22]

A good article and video

http://t.co/WjPyG9SE

[ken0042]

660 News Web Poll:
Do you think the Government of Canada should cover the cost of Sarah Burke's medical bills?

[jar_e]

Originally Posted by ken0042

660 News Web Poll:
Do you think the Government of Canada should cover the cost of Sarah Burke's medical bills?

Not to derail the thread, but no...sets a dangerous precedent. She knew the risks of obviously doing this with no insurance.

[Hockeyguy15]

^^^
Agreed. They will get enough donations from the public to cover the medical bills anyway.

[jar_e]

Originally Posted by fotze

I don't even know the policy on things like this.

Does the government normally cover bills when you travel out of Canada and are hurt. Is it a time out of the country thing?

No that's what travel insurance is for.

[ken0042]

I guess the arguement was that she was in the US training to represent Canada in the Olympics. It was mentioned earlier that it may have been harder for her to get insurance seeing as the purpose of her trip was to participate in a sport.

Does anybody work in the insurance business that could comment? I know before I had coverage from work if I got insurance it was really cheap- like $20 per trip. Would the policy have been that much more?

[jar_e]

This article gives a little more info regarding insurance...

From the national post...

http://sports.nationalpost.com/2012/...medical-costs/

Burke’s publicists have helped the family, which has continually declined interview requests, set up a fundraising initiative — www.giveforward.com/sarahburke — to help them with the reported $550,000 in hospital costs.


While the CFSA carries insurance for all its athletes, the policy does not cover athletes competing in events that are not a sanctioned part of the association’s program. In this case, Burke was taking part in an event put on by sponsor Monster Energy.
Judge said he would be surprised if Monster, which sponsors many action sports events in the U.S., did not have some kind of insurance coverage.


Judge said there may be “some portals and avenues” for the CFSA to assist the family, adding that the organization has received several offers of help from the likes of the Canadian Olympic Committee, the International Olympic Committee and even the Russian ski federation.

[ricosuave]

well, not to be indelicate, but maybe Monster Energy should pony up.

[Ducay]

I'd be amazed (and disgusted) if Monster didn't step up and cover the rest of the bills.

Originally Posted by fotze

How the hell do all those geezers afford to spend winters in Florida?

What am I thinking of where if you are out of the country for 90 days you are not covered? Is that a normal insurance caverage thing?

Most people usually just have blanket travel insurance (through work), or they get supplemental insurance for any trip out of the country for any reasonable amount of time. A lot of people don't think of this on shorter trips, but the lack of coverage is the same. I never buy it when I make trips of a couple days since Im usually close to the border and figure at worst I can wheel myself to the border on a gurney.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by grizz29

Terrible news. Is it true that she was training for the "X Games"? - if so what a waste.

Not really. The X Games is one of the reasons Burke's sport grew to the point of inclusion in the Olympics.

[burn_this_city]

Originally Posted by fotze

How the hell do all those geezers afford to spend winters in Florida?

What am I thinking of where if you are out of the country for 90 days you are not covered? Is that a normal insurance caverage thing?

Eventually it becomes unaffordable. Once my Grandpa hit 80 the insurance to stay in Florida was something ridiculous like $50 a day.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by fotze

How the hell do all those geezers afford to spend winters in Florida?

What am I thinking of where if you are out of the country for 90 days you are not covered? Is that a normal insurance caverage thing?

Yeah, snowbirds can only do it for so long until it becomes outrageously expensive. Eventually they just get declined.

[AR_Six]

This has been an incredibly sad day for everyone who knew Sarah. The thing that isn't obvious to the general public is that even though this is getting attention because she was a gold medal hopeful, it's a much bigger loss than a great skier. And don't get me wrong, she was - this has become a bit of a young person's game, you're over the hill by 26 and some new 19 year old is taking things to the next level, but at 29 she was still winning everything. Being at the forefront for so long, she got a lot of girls interested in freeskiing, and skiing generally. Whoever does end up winning women's gold in Sochi has Sarah to thank for it. But that just doesn't do justice to who she was.

Sarah was one of those rare people who everyone loved, you couldn't help it. Talking to kids who she'd coached on the glacier in Whistler it was like when they would learn something new she would be just as excited as they were. There's something cosmically unfair about losing a person like her to what was a freak accident - the fall that led to her death was one that plenty of us have taken before, myself included. Knowing she's not going to be around to see something she was so integral to, her sport getting onto the biggest stage possible, is a very hard thing to take.