Our thoughts and prayers are with Mark McMorris as he is recovering in a Vancouver hospital after injuring himself on a jump in the Whistler, B.C. backcountry that his Team Canada coach characterized as “well within his skill level.”
Mark and his brother Craig and few friends went into the B.C. backcountry on snowmobiles to build a jump Saturday when the accident happened. Details on the exact nature of the accident are not yet clear but McMorris suffered a fractured jaw, fractured left arm, ruptured spleen, a stable pelvic fracture, rib fractures and a collapsed left lung. Snowboard Canada spokesman Eric Escaravage did release this information “Unfortunately it was a bit of flat light, and he misjudged his takeoff and that resulted in the accident.”
TSN.ca reports the 23-year-old Regina native was airlifted to to Vancouver General Hospital where underwent two surgeries over the weekend to control bleeding and to repair the jaw and arm fractures. Canadian snowboard team doctor Rodney French had this to say about his status:
“While both the (jaw and arm) fractures were complicated injuries, the surgeries went very well and both fractures are now stabilized to heal in excellent position. It is too early to speculate on a timeline for Mark’s recovery.”
His brother Craig spoke with the CBC and said: “He was in the most amount of pain that I’ve ever seen in a human being.” Yikes.
McMorris was a medal favorite at next year’s Winter Olympics slopestyle event in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Canada Snowboard executive director Patrick Jarvis was hesitant to even speculate on about his Olympic participation at this point:
“It’s the nature of the sport. It is action sport with inherent risk. I was obviously very concerned about him and his family. We’re certainly in a good place right now that it’s not life threatening. Bad luck, good luck, no one really knows. He would have to prove a return-to-competition readiness to ensure that he’s comfortable riding again, that he’s back to the level of prowess that he’s used to. All fingers crossed and we would certainly hope that Mark is able to do that. Certainly a little too early to speculate whether that will be probable or whether it’s still just in the realm of possible.”
This is will be the second time Mark will have to battle back from injury. The six-time Winter X Games champion broke his right femur last year in a freak accident at Shaun White’s Air+Style competition and had a medal rod inserted into his leg.
If we know one thing, Mark is a tough son of a bitch and tough sons of bitches are the types that get out of the hospital quick and fight hard to get back on their feet. Our thoughts and prayers and positive vibes are all out to Mark. Get well soon!!!!
