Sarah Burke

rtslinger · #1 01-20-2012, 07:18 AM

Sarah Burke RIP
The Canadian Press: Donations have been pouring in on behalf of Canadian freestyle skier Sarah Burke who died Thursday at the age of 29 in a Utah hospital. ...

Burke crashed Jan. 10 in Park City, Utah, while training in a halfpipe. The Olympic gold-medal hopeful and four-time Winter X Games champion tore one of the major arteries supplying blood to her brain and went into cardiac arrest.

She underwent surgery and spent nine days on life support at the University of Utah Hospital. But Burke had suffered irreversible brain damage after the fall because of lack of oxygen and blood to the brain.

i_got_a_mohawk · #2 01-20-2012, 07:27 AM

Sad loss, she looked like quite the talented skier!

Also sad to see how the family have been lumped with such a massive bill

Root 5 · #3 01-20-2012, 07:53 AM

Yes. Her husband and her family are responsible for a $550,000 hospital bill! That's insane. Don't even get me goin' on the US healthcare system...

And I find it inconceivable that athletes competing in dangerous sports like that don't have comprehensive coverage everywhere in the world they compete. I would've thought the athletes and their governing bodies would have that end of things taken care of.

Time Monkey · #4 01-20-2012, 08:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Root 5

Yes. Her husband and her family are responsible for a $550,000 hospital bill! That's insane. Don't even get me goin' on the US healthcare system...

And I find it inconceivable that athletes competing in dangerous sports like that don't have comprehensive coverage everywhere in the world they compete. I would've thought the athletes and their governing bodies would have that end of things taken care of.

So, when you engage in high dangerous activities like freestyle skiing and wind up dead from major injuries, I should have to help foot the bill for what is a result of your recklessness?

No thanks.

I'm pretty sure there is a private fun for athletes out there that will step in, not to mention donations from individuals and such.

Sad sad sad...

MatticusMania · #5 01-20-2012, 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Time Monkey

So, when you engage in high dangerous activities like freestyle skiing and wind up dead from major injuries, I should have to help foot the bill for what is a result of your recklessness?

No thanks.

Yes, so that when you wind up dead from major injuries as a result of your recklessness we can help foot the bill for your family.

4Mal · #6 01-20-2012, 10:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rtslinger

Sarah Burke RIP
The Canadian Press: Donations have been pouring in on behalf of Canadian freestyle skier Sarah Burke who died Thursday at the age of 29 in a Utah hospital. ...

Burke crashed Jan. 10 in Park City, Utah, while training in a halfpipe. The Olympic gold-medal hopeful and four-time Winter X Games champion tore one of the major arteries supplying blood to her brain and went into cardiac arrest.

She underwent surgery and spent nine days on life support at the University of Utah Hospital. But Burke had suffered irreversible brain damage after the fall because of lack of oxygen and blood to the brain.

Very sad. She was a great athlete. Liked and respected by her peers in the pipe and the free skiing community as well. She was a fearless big mountain skier as well as a superb park rat.

Fly on Sarah!

4Mal · #7 01-20-2012, 10:34 AM

oh yeah - Next time a 9 on the Richter rocks LA or a hurricane takes out Nola or a wild fire ravages the east of San D - my homeowners will help foot the bill - the comments on health care above seem mean spirited and out of place here.

Tituscrow · #8 01-20-2012, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Time Monkey

So, when you engage in high dangerous activities like freestyle skiing and wind up dead from major injuries, I should have to help foot the bill for what is a result of your recklessness?

No thanks.

I'm pretty sure there is a private fun for athletes out there that will step in, not to mention donations from individuals and such.

Sad sad sad...

One of the glorious things about living in the UK is our National Health Service.

Regardless of your lifestyle choice - whether you drink and end up with liver cirrhosis, smoke and end up with lung cancer, overeat and end up obese OR engage in a sport that puts you in hospital - the NHS is there at the point of need.

Slightly off topic, but there is a big hoohaa at the moment about who should foot the bill to remove privately 'installed' boob implants after the silicon gel was deemed to be unsafe. The private clinics have abandoned their 'customers' in their hour of need, but the NHS has agreed to help these women with the removal operations.

I wouldn't swap the NHS for all the tea in China.

Condolences to the family.

i_got_a_mohawk · #9 01-20-2012, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tituscrow

One of the glorious things about living in the UK is our National Health Service.

Regardless of your lifestyle choice - whether you drink and end up with liver cirrhosis, smoke and end up with lung cancer, overeat and end up obese OR engage in a sport that puts you in hospital - the NHS is there at the point of need.

Slightly off topic, but there is a big hoohaa at the moment about who should foot the bill to remove privately 'installed' boob implants after the silicon gel was deemed to be unsafe. The private clinics have abandoned their 'customers' in their hour of need, but the NHS has agreed to help these women with the removal operations.

I wouldn't swap the NHS for all the tea in China.

Condolences to the family.

FWIW

+1

fhm555 · #10 01-20-2012, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MatticusMania

Yes, so that when you wind up dead from major injuries as a result of your or someone else's recklessness we can help foot the bill for your family.

fixed...

MatticusMania · #11 01-20-2012, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fhm555

fixed...

Good catch!

MJ5150 · #12 01-21-2012, 06:58 AM

Why didn't she have health insurance?

-Mike

Root 5 · #13 01-21-2012, 07:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MJ5150

Why didn't she have health insurance?

-Mike

As I understand it, she didn't have the coverage because she was practicing for a Monster Energy event, which is not sanctioned by the 'Grand Poobahs' of the sport.

But I'm wondering why any athlete would compete in a highly dangerous event like this if they know they aren't covered for medical expenses.

Her handlers, coaches, etcetera, must've known this and had that taken care of.

I'm amazed if they didn't. It borders on negligence.

Root 5 · #14 01-21-2012, 08:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Time Monkey

So, when you engage in high dangerous activities like freestyle skiing and wind up dead from major injuries, I should have to help foot the bill for what is a result of your recklessness?

No. I think her handlers should've had that taken care of, so that the athletes are covered in every country and every event.

And a lot of people drive like idiots on the road leading to serious injury and death. "Reckless" is relative.

sandmangeck · #15 01-21-2012, 04:34 PM

From the article in my paper it states she lived in Canada. So technically the Canadian Health System should pick up her tab.

MJ5150 · #16 01-21-2012, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Root 5

But I'm wondering why any athlete would compete in a highly dangerous event like this if they know they aren't covered for medical expenses.

I'm amazed if they didn't. It borders on negligence.

Same things I am thinking.

-Mike

Pilgrim · #17 01-21-2012, 05:54 PM

I'm sorry to hear about this. By all reports, she was a great talent, and I hat to see any young person die.

To participate in any sport like that without a solid insurance policy is irresponsible. Even top-level college football players carry health insurance.

warnergt · #18 01-21-2012, 10:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tituscrow

I wouldn't swap the NHS for all the tea in China.

NHS accused of 17,000 unnecessary deaths

Hospital left patients 'sobbing and humiliated'

Passinwind · #19 01-21-2012, 10:33 PM

Looks like all the insurance speculation and so on is pretty much moot now anyway. The money to cover it was raised in only a couple days.

onosson · #20 01-22-2012, 01:58 AM

I don't want to take this into a political realm at all - and I also certainly understand that one should take responsibility for getting insurance when travelling abroad (that applies to Canadians going to the U.S.A.)

However, I would just like to point out to those Americans on this thread, as a Canadian the concept of being expected to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for my own medical treatment, let alone someone else who is merely part of my family, is quite unfathomable. Hence, the press coverage of this sad event. We really have two very different experiences when it comes to this kind of thing, despite everything else our two countries have in common.