SALT LAKE CITY, January 19, 2012 (AFP) - Freestyle ski star Sarah Burke died on Thursday from injuries sustained in a superpipe training accident suffered earlier this month, the Canadian Freestyle Ski Association said.
University of Utah Medical Center officials confirmed that Burke died at 9:22 am in the presence of her family after her fall on a training superpipe at nearby Park City on January 10. She was 29.
Doctors said she suffered a ruptured vertebral artery that reduced blood flow to the brain, leading to severe bleeding. She remained in a coma and on life support from the time she reached the Salt Lake City hospital.
Doctors discovered Burke had suffered irreversible brain damage after going into cardiac arrest.
"The family expresses their heartfelt gratitude for the international outpouring of support they have received from all the people Sarah touched," said a statement from Burke's family, who donated her organs for transplant.
Burke, a four-time Winter X Games champion, has been instrumental in raising the profile of freestyle halfpipe and was an enthusiastic and influential supporter of its inclusion in the Olympics from 2014.
Burke would have been among the medal favorites in Sochi for the women's superpipe debut.
The Park City course where Burke was injured was the same one upon which snowboarder Kevin Pearce was critically injured in a 2009 training run.
Pearce recovered and returned to snowboarding last month.
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