k(no)w right

lifeaquatic:

By now you’ve probably heard about Sarah Burke, the Canadian freestyle skier who died yesterday from brain injuries suffered during a fall on a halfpipe in Utah. My friend posted this video of Sarah and her husband, Rory, that is adorable and heartbreaking at the same time. But I like it as a way to celebrate a life.

Brain injuries are terrifying. I can say “wear a helmet!” but sometimes a helmet doesn’t make a difference. When you’re pushing the limits in a sport like freestyle skiing, as Burke was doing, you have to understand that this kind of death can happen to you. And you have to understand that you will, most likely, lose a friend to this kind of death at some point. That doesn’t make it easier, but when it happens, you have some sense of understanding, of knowing that this is the reality that you chose.

Risky sports aside, brain injury can happen to anyone. If you’ve ever known someone who has suffered a brain injury, you know the agony of waiting for something, anything to indicate that the person you know and love will come through it, that the bleeding and swelling won’t snuff them out. You know what it’s like to beg doctors and nurses for information and see the looks on their faces when they tell you that they really don’t know, there’s no way to know, “the next 24 hours will give us a better idea,” you just have to wait.

I’ve seen more than one family have to make the decision to shut off the machines, to donate the organs and stretch what’s left of that life into helping other people live. Death is always agonizing, but there’s something about having to make that final decision to let go, to flip that switch and admit that that person isn’t coming back, that tears to the core.

Please, everyone, be careful.

UPDATE: You can donate to help Sarah’s family settle the outstanding medical costs and expenses related to her accident here.

3 months ago 13 notes

Tagged with: #BelieveInSarah #Sarah Burke

k(no)w right

biography lends to death a new terror.