Brain-Damaged Snowboarder Returns To The Slopes As An Observer

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Posted on 30th January 2011 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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Snowboarder Kevin Pearce is still on the mend from his traumatic brain injury.

Pearce, once a champion in his sport, is still making headway in terms of his recovery from his devastating accident Dec. 31, 2009. Pearce, now 23, was practicing a particularly tough move, a double cork, in Utah when he hit his head on the edge of a halfpipe. Even though he was wearing a helmet, Pearce sustained serious brain damage.     

 Last week he was in Aspen, Colo., longingly watching his friends and fellow snowboarders prepare for the Winter X Games. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/28/sports/28xgames.html?scp=1&sq=kevin%20pearce&st=cse

After his accident, Pearce spent a month in a hospital before being transferred to the Craig Hospital in Denve for rehabilitation. Last May he went to his parents’  Vermont home, where he is continuing his recovery.

Pearce has to wear eyeglasses now, or he sees double, according to The New York Times. He is apparently yearning to return to snowboarding, but has been told by his doctors that his brain injury recovery will take two years, not one year as Pearce expected.

It seems that common sense would dictate that Pearce forget about snowboarding. Let’s see if he’s learned any lessons from his horrific accident.

Snowboarder Kevin Pearce May Be Journeying Home After TBI Rehabilitation

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Posted on 19th April 2010 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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The prognosis is looking good for Kevin Pearce, the champion snowboarder who sustained a traumatic brain injury during a halfpipe practice Dec. 31, according to The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/17/sports/17pearce.html?ref=sports

 Pearce, who would have been a contender in the Winter Olympics if not for his accident, has been recovering from his injuries at a brain rehabilitation facility, Craig Hospital, in Englewood, Colo.

 The 22-year-old has been making so much progress that he will be going home to Norwich, Vt., in the next few weeks according to the story, which is headlined “No Gold, but Something Better: Going Home.”

Pearce’s doctor believes that the youth will one day be snowboarding again. But the physician warned that Pearce shouldn’t be trying to do any halfpipes again. But one wonders if a snowboarder like Pearce, part of a counterculture sport that courts danger, will heed any doctor’s warnings.

 Pearce still risks dying because of the blood that filled his brain’s ventricles after his accident. He also sustained deep axonal brain injury.

 He was practicing a “double cork,” a key stunt, when he hit his head on the halfpipe. Pearce got his injuries even though he was wearing a helmet.

 In rehab, Pearce had to learn to talk and walk again. He is still having problems with his balance, and is wearing special eyeglasses to address that issue.

 And his memory is still very sketchy, according to his family. Let’s hope he remembers the lesson of his TBI: No more halfpipes.