Freestyle Skier Sarah Burke Dies From Injuries During Training Accident

Sarah Burke, the twenty nine year old super pipe skier has died. Sarah was injured a little more than a week ago in a training accident on a half pipe at the Utah training facility. Ironically, this was the same half pipe that led to brain injuries to Kevin Pearce, a snowboarder. Doctors determined that Burke's brain damage was irreversible, likely caused by hypoxia, which is a lack of oxygen to the brain. Sarah had had a full cardiac arrest after crashing on the half pipe.

Nicole Wool who has been Sarah's publicist, issued a statement on behalf of her family thanking the international community for the support that has been shown. Wool also stated that Burke's organs and tissues had been donated, as was her wish.

Sarah was well aware of the dangers of her sport but was willing to take the risks and to train hard so that she could perform better. A serious injury in 2009 left her with a broken vertebrate during the X Games. That injury came during a slopestyle event, not considered one of her best events. But, because she had been vocal in getting that event added to the X Games that year, she would later say that she was compelled to compete. Even with the injury to Pearce, her and other action sports athletes were ready to push their sports, to a point.

Burke was the odds on favorite for the gold medal in the 2014 Olympics when Women's Super Pipe will first debut. It was Burke who campaigned for the addition of the sport and who worked so hard to bring it to the forefront of attention despite being eclipsed by the more popular snowboarding.

When she wasn't training for a competition, Burke was often giving clinics for the younger generation and working one on one with those she felt were the future of the sport.

Sarah Burke was a four time Winter X Games champion as well as winning the 2007 ESPY award as the Female Action Sports Athlete of the Year. A Canadian native, Sarah married fellow freestyle skier, Rory Bushfield in 2010. The pair appeared together in a feature film, "Winter" on the Ski Channel.

Critics have called a number of the action sports overly dangerous despite a number of changes to protect the athletes. Helmets are mandatory for all sports and air bags are typically used on the half pipes during training events and practice sessions to minimize impact.